Union County 

Economic and Social 



ROBERT M. HOPE 
FANT KELLY 
CHARLES M. GEE 
DOUGLAS JETER 


University of South Carolina 
Columbia, S. C. 


Bulletin University of South Carolina—Issued Semi-Monthly. 
No. 128. August 15, 1923. Second Class Mail Matter. 















UNION COUNTY 
Economic and Social 





ROBERT M. HOPE 
FANT KELLY 
CHARLES M. GEE 
DOUGLAS JETER 


A Laboratory Study in the Department of Rural Social Science 
of the University of South Carolina 

AUGUST 15, 1923 








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TABLE OF CONTENTS 




Page 


Preface . 

.. 5 

I. 

Historical Background .... 

. 7 

II. 

Natural Resources... 

. 23 

III. 

Union County Towns ..-..... 

. 29 

IV. 

TTnion Indnsfries . 

38 

V. 

Facts About the Folks ..... 

. 44 

VI. 

Wealtfi and Taxation .______ 

_ 50 

VII. 

Schools . ’ 

58 

VIII. 

i 

Agriculture ^ _ __ 

65 

IX. 

Balance Sheet in Food and Feed Production.....„. 

.. 75 

X. 

Evidences of Progress .... 

.. 86 

XI. 

Our Problems and Solutions . 

.- 99 


































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A Recent Addition to Union’s School System 





































PREFACE 


We are greatly indebted to Dr. Wilson Gee, Professor of Rural 
Social Science at the University of South Carolina, and a native 
son of Union County for his untiring efforts and cooperation in 
the preparation of this booklet. He has carefully edited the entire 
manuscript, and has been ready and willing at all times to make 
suggestions and to help in any way possible to make this survey 
.complete and authoritative. 

The “Historical Background” was written by H. L. Scaife of 
Washington, D. C., a well known Union County man, who has 
long been a student of his native county, past and present. We 
are grateful that he has found time amidst the numerous duties 
of an important post to give us the benefit of his investigations 
into the history of Union County. 

County Superintendent of Education Ellerbe furnished the 
material for the article on “School Improvements;” Superintendent 
Davis Jeffries, who has had such a considerable part in the de¬ 
velopment of the Union Schools, gave the data for the account of 
“The Union City School System;” Miss Mahala Smith the inform¬ 
ation regarding the “Home Demonstration Work;” County Agent 
W. A. Wood that on the “Farm Demonstration Work;” County 
Highway Engineer Deneen the material concerning “Good Roads;” 
and Adjutant Davis the account of the work of the Salvation Army. 
We wish to take this opportunity to thank them for their help so 
generously extended. 

In the chapter on Union County Towns the write-up of Buffalo 
was prepared by W. A. Schilletter; that of Cross Keys by H. C. 
Wilburn; Carlisle by Gordon May, a student at the University; 
Santuck, by Russell Jeter, Sr.; and Lockhart by Miss Edna Hope. 
Much of the data included in the account of Union was furnished 
by Allan Nicholson, Editor of the Progress. . Miss Annie Kelly 
kindly sent us the material on the town of Jonesville. 

The expense of publishing and distributing this bulletin was 
borne by the University of South Carolina. 

We wish to express to all who have aided in the preparation'of 
this survey our appreciation of the work which they did to make 
this bulletin possible. 

ROBERT M. HOPE, 

FANT KELLY, 

CHARLES M. GEE, 
DOUGLAS JETER. 


University of South Carolina, 
May 4, 1923. 




I. 


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 


H. L. Scaife. 


The settlers of Union County began to supplant the Indians 
about the middle of the Eighteenth Century. Until recent years 
traces of the aborigines were frequently found in relics of the 
Stone Age and a few Indian mounds, the most important in the 
vicinity noted by the Bureau of Ethnology being on Broad river, 
on the Chester side. The historian Mills says that Tyger river 
(formerly spelled Tiger) received its name from a battle fought 
on its banks by a tiger and a bear, in which the former was vic¬ 
torious, Mills gives the Indian name as Amoyes-Cheeh, but other 
authorities say it was Oudalee. Pacolet in the Indian language 
meant “running horse,” and it is most likely that the river received 
its name from the Indians, as there was a tribe bearing this name 
in the vicinity. Tradition says that in 1620 there was a great 
battle fought between the Cherokee and Catawba Indians at Nation 
Ford in York County, and that after the battle the Cherokees 
agreed to confine themselves to the country west of Broad river, 
which they called Eswa Huppeday (also given as Eswaspudde- 
nah), meaning “line river.” 

In the early days wild animals of all kinds were abundant. 
Buffalo creek received its name because of the herds of buffaloes 
that grazed in its valleys. The late Col. John L. Young once told 
the writer that he had located a buffalo lick on Sugar creek, near 
West Springs. Antelopes, deer, bear, panthers, and wolves were 
numerous. Fairforest was noted for the number of beavers that 
were trapped along its banks. James Moseley, one of the pioneer 
settlers of Union County and afterwards a distinguished scout in 
the Revolutionary war, was returning home late one evening with 
a deer on his shoulders. The wolves caught scent of the venison 
and the pack was soon howling on his trail. Moseley sank the 
deer in the creek and climbed a post oak tree just in time to save 
his life, where he remained until early dawn the next morning 
when he singled out the leader of the pack and fired. Upon the 
death of their leader, the other wolves scampered off. Logan, in 
his History of Upper South Carolina, written in 1859, says: “The 




8 


Union County : Economic and Social 


venerable tree connected with this story is still a living witness 
of the occurrence, and known to; all the surrounding country as 
Moseley’s Oak; no sacrilegious hand would dare approach it with 
an axe. It stands immediately on the road leading to Grindal’s 
Shoals, and a short distance from the house of Garland Meng, 
Esq.” As late as the year 1786 an Act was passed by the Legis¬ 
lature offering a reward for the “scalp and two ears” of a panther, 
tiger, wolf, or wild cat which were still preying upon the settlers. 

In 1750 Col. Elijah Clarke brought a colony from Virginia and 
settled on Pacolet river, and about the same time settlers began 
to find homes along the Fairforest and the Tyger. It is said that 
the first white man’s cabin in the up-country was built on the Fair- 
forest. In 1755 Governor Glen made a treaty with the Cherokee 
Indians. By this treaty the Indians withdrew from Union and 
several other counties, and new settlers rapidly came in. 

The early settlers of Union County were mostly Scotch-Irish 

Presbyterians. Seven or eight families emigrated from Lancaster 
County, Pennsylvania, from the year 1751 to 1754, and settled on 
the Fairforest. These* emigrants founded the old Fairforest church 
in the neighborhood of Meansville, about fifteen miles north of 
Union Court House. There are several traditions as to how Fair¬ 
forest creek received its name. One is that when these pilgrims 

were encamped on a high point about two miles east of Glenn 
Springs, James Mcllwaine exclaimed: “What a fair forest is this!” 
Another tradition is that a Baptist minister came into this country 
as a missionary to the Indians, and, selecting for his use about 
six hundred acres along the stream, said: “Isn’t this a fair forest?” 
In his Colonial and Revolutionary History of Upper South Caro¬ 
lina, Dr. J. B. O. Landrum says that the name originated from an 
expression made by Lord Cornwallis. 

Between the years 1749 and 1758 a number of Presbyterian fam¬ 
ilies located on Enoree and Tyger rivers, and on Indian creek, 
near Maybinton, in Newberry County, and among these settlers 
were the Hamiltons. In Howe’s history of the Presbyterian. 
Church in South Carolina, is the following extract, quoted from a 
Rev. Mr. McKadden’s diary: “On Monday, the 10th of Novem¬ 
ber, 1775, returned about twenty miles to James Atterson’s on 
Tyger river; preached on Thursday, which was the first they had 
ever heard in these parts * * *. Next day rode to James Love’s, 
on Broad river, Thursday, preached.” 

In 1754 and 1755 a settlement was made on Brown’s creek, about 
four miles from the present city of Union. These settlers came 
from Pennsylvania, and among them were the Jollys, Bogans, 
Kennedys, Brandons, Mcjunkins, Savages, Youngs, Vances, 


Union County : Economic and Social 


9 


Hughes, and Wilsons. These people lived in tents until they could 
erect log cabins. 

During the French and Indian wars, the Brown’s creek settle¬ 
ment suffered from attacks made on it by the Cherokee Indians, 
and the inhabitants fled to Otterson’s fort on Tyger river, about 
one mile below Beaty’s mill. The fort was beseiged by the In¬ 
dians and several inmates were killed. At the same time the 
Cherokees attacked other settlements in Union County, and the 
people were forced to leave until peace was declared between 
Great Britain and France in 1763. 

In 1765 the people of Brown’s creek settlement built a church 
on what was later known as the Pinckney road, about four miles 
from Union. The Rev. Joseph Alexander was the first pastor, 
and, on account of the Indians, he preached with his gun on the 
pulpit and his powder horn hanging at his side. The church was 
used in common by the Presbyterians, the Episcopalians and, per¬ 
haps, the Quakers, who were scattered in that section. This was 
called the Union church, and from it Union County gets its name. 

During the Revolutionary war Union County was the scene of 
several battles and many skirmishes; the opposing armies on a 
number of occasions marched across her borders; and it was here 
that the strife between the Whigs and Tories was carried on with 
the greatest bitterness and intensity. 

News of the battle of Lexington reached Charleston on May 
8th, 1775. Rev. William Tennent and the Hon. William Drayton 
were ordered by the Council of Saftey to proceed to the interior 
of the State and explain the causes of the trouble between the 
colonies and the king, and to counteract the disaffection incited 
by the British emissaries. 

The Provincial militia of South Carolina then consisted of twelve 
regiments, and one of the regimental districts consisted of all the 
country lying between Broad and Saluda rivers. The regiment of 
this district was commanded by Col. Thomas Fletchall, who re¬ 
sided at what is now known as Murphy’s shoals on the Fairforest. 
Fletchall was a man of great influence and was secretly gaining 
over the men in his district to the Royal cause. 

Tennent and Drayton reached Fletchall’s house on August 17th, 
1775. Mr. Tennent, three days later, wrote the Council of Safety, 
as follows. 

“We have at length visited the mighty Nabob Fletchall. We 
found him surrounded by his court, viz.: Cunningham, Brown and 
Robinson, who watch all his motions and have him under great 
command. We soon found the unchangeable malignity of their 
minds, and the inexpressible pains they were at to blind the people 


10 


Union County : Economic and Social 


and fill them with bitterness against the Gentlemen, as they were 
called. Gen. Gage’s pamphlet is raging through the district and 
is being greedily read. The leaders keep the people ignorant, and 
in general they firmly believe that no man, that comes from below, 
and no paper printed there, can speak the truth. This is necessary 
to prevent anything we can say from taking place. We soon found 
that reasoning was vain with those who were fixed with Royal 
emolument, but perceiving that Fletchall expected to play between, 
we Jet him know that we had discovered things which he thought 
were a profound secret, and surprised him much. He confessed 
receiving a letter from the Governor within five days last, and 
offered to swear there was not harm in it, and that he would not 
take up arms against the country. But we surprised him into a 
promise to assemble his regiment next Wednesday at Ford’s, which 
highly affronted Cunningham and the rest of the upper house, 
some of whom treated us with insolence' upon it. We expect to 
meet the regiment, accordingly, and many of our friends whom I 
have advertised of it.” 

The parade ground of Col. Fletchall’s regiment was at Ford’s on 
the Enoree, at the fork of Cedar Shoal creek. On August 13th 
the regiment was assembled. When the commissioners arrived 
they found Col. Fletchall and his associates at work on the men. 
Speeches were made, and several of the captains came over to the 
cause of Liberty. After an exciting day Tennent and Drayton 
left. Soon after the departure of the commissioners the Spartan 
Regiment was organized of men from Spartanburg and Union 
counties and placed under the command of Col. John Thomas, Sr. 

Col. Richardson, with a small force was stationed near the mouth 
of the Enoree to keep a check on Fletchall’s command, which 
was operating in the vicinity. Tradition says that Col. Fletchall 
was finally captured in a cave on Fairforest creek just above the 
junction with Tyger river by Col. Thomson’s rangers. Another 
account is that Fletchall, when captured, was concealed in the 
hollow of a large sycamore tree on the north side of Fairforest, 
two and a half miles below Brandon’s mill, where he was known 
to have secreted himself on several occasions. Fletchall had many 
valuable papers on his person when captured, among them Lord 
Campbell’s correspondence. Pushing on to Fletchall’s house. Col. 
Thomson captured two British captains and thirty privates. 
After the war Col. Fletchall moved to the West Indies and his 
estate was confiscated. 

After the capture of Fort Thicketty and the battle of Cedar 
Springs, Col. Joseph McDowell went into camp at Smith’s Ford 
on Board river. Soon Joseph Kerr, the crippled spy, brought 


Union County : Economic and Social 


11 


him information that Col. Ferguson, with a force of 1,500 men, 
after passing through the “meadow woods,” then called the Quaker 
Meadow,” had gone into camp at Murphy’s Shoals on the Fair- 
forest. He also reported that Queen Anne’s regiment and a band 
of Tories, under Col. Innis, were stationed at Musgrove’s mill, on 
the Enoree. It was also rumored that a chest was being sent from 
Ninety-Six to Ferguson, by way of Musgrove’s mill. 

McDowell immediately determined to elude Ferguson and send 
a force to Musgrove’s mill. On August 17th, 1780, a detachment, 
consisting of about 600 horsemen, left Smith’s Ford about sun¬ 
down, with William Brandon acting as guide. The expedition 
passed through the woods until dark. Travelling at a hurried gait 
they crossed Fairforest about three miles above Murphy’s Shoals 
and reached the Enoree at early dawn. When within about a half 
mile of the British camp, they quickly threw up breastworks made 
of dead trees and brush. 

Col. Isaac Shelby took the right wing, leaving Col. James Wil¬ 
liams in command of the center. Captain Shadrach Inman was 
given twenty-five men and ordered to cross the Enoree and lead 
. the enemy into the ambuscade. 

Firing into the British camp, Inman’s men began to retreat. The 
British quickly followed, shouting “Huzza for King George!” and 
some of the garrison climbed on top of Allen Musgrove’s house 
to watch the fun. 

When within about forty yards of the American lines the Brit¬ 
ish received a deadly fire, and after one of the hardest fought 
battles of the Revolution, they soon began to retreat towards 
Ninety-Six. 

In this battle Col. Innis was wounded and a number of his offi¬ 
cers were killed, among them Major Fraser and Captain Hawsey, 
a noted Tory. Two Whigs grabbed the bridle of the horse ridden 
by Col. Clary, also a well known Tory. Clary, with an oath ex¬ 
claimed, “Don’t you know your own officers?” and, when the bridle 
was turned loose, made his escape. The British lost in the battle, 
63 killed, 90 wounded, and 70 taken prisoners. The American loss 
was four killed and nine wounded. Capt. Inman, who distinguished 
himself for the gallant way in which he led the enemy into the 
trap, was killed in the battle. Lyman C. Draper located his grave 
near where “the modern road leaves the old mill road.” He was 
buried at the foot of a Spanish oak, where he fell. After the battle 
one of the enemy who had made considerable progress on the road 
towards Ninety-Six dared the pursuers by placing his body in aJ 
position to deride the Americans. He was promptly brought down 
by a bullet from Golden Tinsley’s rifle. 


12 


Union County : Economic and Social 


After his reverses on the Wateree, Gen. Sumter gathered about 
thirty men and began to operate in the country adjacent to Broad, 
Ehoree and Tyger rivers. Some troops under Colonels Middle- 
ton, Taylor, Lacey, Winn, Bratton, Thomas, Hill, Twiggs and 
Clarke flocked to his standard. With these recruits, Sumter 
pitched his camp at Fish Dam Ford, on Broad river. 

Lord Cornwallis, with headquarters at Winnsboro, sent Major 
Wemyss to attack Sumter. With Wemyss’s detachment a squad, 
consisting of one ofiicer and five dragoons, was sent with special 
instructions to make their way to Gen. Sumter’s tent and take 
him, dead or alive. Guided by a man named Sealey, who had lately 
been a prisoner in Sumter’s camp, Wemyss approached the “Game 
Cock’s” roost by night. 

Sumter had ordered Col. Thomas Taylor to put out pickets.-. 
Taylor had a number of fires built beyond the picket line to warn 
him of the enemy’s approach, and his men lay concealed in the. 
underbrush. 

When the British advanced the Americans brought down twenty- 
three of their number at the first volley. The combatants on both 
sides then took flight, going in opposite directions, the movement 
on the part of the Americans being a ruse. After running one 
hundred yards, the British rallied and charged into the American 
lines with bayonets fixed. Taylor’s men retired behind a fence 
and soon put the British to flight. The next morning Major 
Wemyss was found badly wounded. Sealey, who conducted the 
party, received a sabre cut from one of his own men by mistake, 
from which he died. The battle of Fish Dam was fought on Nov¬ 
ember 9th, 1780. 

On the evening before the battle of Fish Dam Ford, Col. Ed¬ 
ward Lacey was returning from a trip through York and Chester 
counties with 150 recruits, many of whom were Irishmen, who 
had come into possession of a barrel of whiskey along the road 
and had freely imbibed. When about four miles from Sumter’s 
camp a scouting party of British dragoons came into view. Col. 
Lacey, realizing the condition of his men, was holding a hurried 
conference with his officers as to plans to avoid an encounter, 
when some one cried out, “the red coats,” and with one accord 
the recruits began to exclaim, “Is that the British? By Jove, 
Col. Lacey, let’s at them! We’ll give them a clatter!” Being no 
longer able to control his men, with shouts and yells and general 
commotion, they started for the British and put them to flight. 
Col. ‘Lacey was only able to draw them off by turning at the forks 
of the road towards Sumter’s camp and calling to his men that the 
“red coats” had gone in that direction. Gen. Sumter is said to 
have laughed heartily when he heard of the incident, and ordered 


Union County : Economic and Social 13 

Col. Lacey to give his men a good supper but nothing more to 
drink. 

Lord Cornwallis was soon apprised of affairs at Fish Dam and 
I find in Tarleton’s Memoirs the following letter written by Corn¬ 
wallis, at Winnsboro, on November 9, 1780: 

“Dear Tarleton: 

Major Wemyss attacked Sumter at Fish Dam at one o'clock 
this morning, contrary to his plan, which was to wait until day¬ 
light; the consequence is, that Wemyss is wounded and left, and 
about twenty men. Lieutenant Hovenden is wounded, but I be¬ 
lieve the Legion has not lost much. Must beg of you to return 
immediately, leaving some horses for mounting men at Camden. 
I am under the greatest anxiety for Ninety-Six, and trust that 
you will lose no time in returning to me. 

I am. 

Yours sincerely, 

CORNWALLIS. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton.’’ 


After the battle at Fish Dam Ford, Gen. Sumter moved his com¬ 
mand to Blackstock, on Tyger river. He was just reaching the 
river when Tarleton overtook him, The battle of Blackstock fol¬ 
lowed, being fought on November 25, 1780. The British loss has 
been given as about 200 killed and wounded, and the American 
casualties as three killed and three wounded. In this battle Gen. 
Sumter received a severe wound which disabled him for several 
months. The American and British reports seldom agree, the 
latter reporting in this fight Sumter was dangerously wounded, 
three of his colonels were killed and wounded, and about 120 of 
his men were killed and wounded. After the war one of Tarle- 
ton’s officers published a book in England in which he severely 
censured his campaign in the Carolinas and challenged his figures 
in this battle. Tarleton stated in his reports that a woman had 
passed him on the march and by a nearer road managed to get 
word to the American forces of his approach. From best accounts 
this woman was Mary Dillard, of Laurens district. 

Among the partisan leaders of the Revolution, furnished by 
Union County, were: Colonels Thomas Brandon, James Steen, 
Joseph Hughes, and Giles; Majors Thomas Young, Joseph Mc- 
Junkin, and Jolly, and Captain John Savage. Among the names 
of soldiers who were prominent were Vance, Hollis, Young, Dil¬ 
lard, Chandler, Culbertson, Farr, Kennedy, Glenn, Sharpe, Cun¬ 
ningham, and Hart. Col. John Thomas, Sr., who was an old man, 


14 


Union County : Economic and Social 


living on the Fairforest, probably in Spartanburg district, was 
succeeded in command by his son Col. John Thomas, Jr.' Col. 
Thomas Brandon was said to have killed four of Tarleton’s dra¬ 
goons with his own sword in the battle of Cowpens. Golden 
Tinsley, who had two brothers killed by the Tories on the Fair- 
forest, was a well known scout. 

Col. Joseph Hughes was one of the most daring and picturesque 
I)artisan leaders of the war. In the battle of Cowpens, Hughes’ 
men began to retreat and he would run in front of them, tripping 
them up with his sword, until he rallied them and concealed them 
in some pines, from which they opened an unexpected fire on the 
enemy as the American lines were giving way. Tarleton’s troops 
began to waver, and Hughes had saved the day. Learning that 
Col. Fletchall was gathering a supply of provisions for Ferguson 
at Hancock’s mill, about four miles above town, Hughes, with Capt. 
Giles, Sharpe and others, surprised the Tory camp and completely 
routed them. Col. Hughes was the hero of innumerable skirm¬ 
ishes in Union County. 

While on his way to join Gen. Daniel Morgan at Cowpens, 
Major Samuel Otterson learned that the battle had already begun. 
He determined to take his post at a cross-roads, where he knew 
the enemy would pass after the battle. In a short while a party 
of Tarleton’s dragoons passed by, and Otterson called for volun¬ 
teers to join him in the chase. • Only one man responded. Otter¬ 
son and his comrade kept the trail until dark, when the two men 
dashed in among the troopers, firing their pistols and demanding 
their surrender. Thinking they were being attacked by a consid¬ 
erable force, the entire command threw down their arms. The 
two men had captured thirty of Tarleton’s troopers, whom they 
took to North Carolina as prisoners of war, neither of them clos¬ 
ing his eyes in sleep until they had reached their destination, after 
several days’ journey. William Sharpe, with several comrades, in 
a similar way, captured twenty Tories on a dark night at Grindal 
Shoals. Samuel Clowney, an Irishman whose home was on the 
Fairforest, with the aid of an unarmed negro, worked a similar 
ruse and captured five prisoners near Cedar Springs. When he 
was delivering his prisoners. Col. Thomas asked him, “Why, Pad¬ 
dy, how did you take all of these men?” Clowney replied, “May 
it please your honor, by me faith, Oye surrounded them.” 

William Kennedy, Esq., who was one of the first judges of the 
Quorum in Union district, lived on the Brandon place about one 
mile north-east of Monarch Mills, and did much for the cause. 
His son William Kennedy was one of the most conspicuous parti¬ 
san leaders in the up-Country, who always refused to accept any 
office, but was the leader in many encounters. He was in a num- 


Union County : Economic and Social 


15 


ber of close places, but always got his man. On one occasion he 
and several companions were pursuing a Tory, who plunged his 
horse over a twenty foot embankment into the Fairforest when 
his escape had been cut off, but he was captured when he reached 
the opposite bank. It was said that William Kennedy never 
missed his aim, whether on foot or firing from horseback at full 
speed. Draper, in his book, “King’s Mountain and Its Fleroes,” 
said that William Kennedy’s rifle had a peculiar crack when fired, 
which his acquaintances recognized and when its report was heard, 
it was a common remark—“there is another Tory less.” This 
book and a number of memoirs give much personal history of 
Union County’s Revolutionary partisans. 

The Memoirs of Major Thomas Young are in print, and throw 
light on the Revolutionary history of Union County. Major 
Young had a brother killed in a skirmish with the Tories at the 
forks of the road near Sardis church. The Tories were led by 
Captain Steedman, who owned what was later known as the Sar¬ 
tor mill place, on Tinker creek. Besides Young, two other Whigs 
were killed at Sardis, and they were buried under an oak tree 
where the fighting took place. Young’s body was buried at Union 
church on Brown’s creek. Steedman was afterwards captured, 
and Major Young, in his Memoirs, says: “Around Steedman’s 
neck I fastened the rope as a reward for his cruelties.” Steed¬ 
man was buried at his home on Tinker creek. 

On one occasion Major Young heard that a Tory command was 
stationed on Tyger river near what was later known as the Solo¬ 
mon Bobo place. Taking a few comrades. Young set out to ob¬ 
tain information for General Marion. Following the path of the 
river bank made by wild animals, and crawling through cane-brakes. 
Young finally came in sight of the British rendezvous. The sol¬ 
diers were in a house carousing and an officer was sitting in the 
window. Resting his flint and steel rifle in the forks of a tree. 
Young fired and the officer fell out of the window dead. 

Major Young received a sabre wound across the head in the 
battle of Cowpens, and he carried the scar to his grave. The late 
Judge William H. Wallace told the writer that, when he was quite 
a lad, he was carried over Cowpens battle-field by Majors Young 
and Mcjunkin, who pointed out to him their positions in the battle. 
Judge Wallace remembered hearing the strong voices of these 
old Revolutionary soldiers as they sang with the congregation in 
the Presbyterian church after it was moved to town. His father, 
Daniel Wallace, prepared a manuscript of Union County’s history 
during the Revolution which was turned over to the historian 
William Gilmore Simms. In 1900 I interviewed a number of the 
old residents of Union County to obtain historical data and tr^- 


16 


Union County : Economic and Social 


ditions of this period, and several of them had accounts which 
they had been told by participants. 

Tradition says that two Tories were killed in the flat beyond 
Beulah church, and that they were buried on the hill near-by. At 
first no one was willing to allow them to be buried on his land. 
As a compromise, the graves were dug in the road on a line be¬ 
tween the lands of William Porter and William Savage. A sassa¬ 
fras tree stood on the line and the heads of the Tories placed 
against the tree, one being on Porter’s land and the other on Sav¬ 
age’s side. It is said that a Tory, who was probably killed in the 
same skirmish, was buried at Fairview church. Tradition says 
that two Tories were buried on the hill between Tosh’s branch 
and the residence of the late Major J. W. McLure. 

Some years ago a large oak tree stood on a hill on Mr. W. J. 
Friday’s farm, and it is said that an old Whig by the name of 
Hughes was hanged on this tree by the Tories. The sons of the 
old man pursued the murderers and overtook them at Fishing 
creek. Giving them time to pray, the boys speedily avenged their 
father’s death. On one occasion Col. Brandon captured a notori¬ 
ous Tory. The trembling wretch begged so piteously for his life 
that Col. Brandon’s men pleaded with their leader to spare him, 
but Col. Brandon shot him with his own pistol. It is said that on 
his death bed Col. Brandon remarked that this was the only act 
of his life that his conscience could not get rid of. 

While in hiding at his home, Capt. Giles heard of the depreda¬ 
tions of a notorious Tory in the neighborhood, and he determined 
to capture him. Collecting several Whigs, Giles soon located his 
man. The Tory began to retreat, dodging and firing from behind 
the trees. A running fight soon began, which did not end until 
they had reached Broad river. Here Giles called out to the Tory 
that they had been old neighbors and school boys together, and 
that, if he would surrender, he would send him across Broad river 
to the Tory camp. The Tory agreed and Giles ordered one of 
his men to carry him across. Some days afterwards the Tory’s 
body was seen below this point, in the river. After the war, the 
“boatman” met Col. Giles in Union and rushed up to take his hand. 
Giles turned his back on the man, exclaiming: “I will never shake 
hands with a man who has betrayed my confidence.” 

Union County was the scene of some thrilling deeds of Dicey 
Langston, who waded Tyger river, with water up to her neck, to 
give intelligence of the plottings of a band of Tories. While re¬ 
turning from a Whig settlement in Spartanburg County, the leader 
of a Tory band placed a pistol at Dicey’s breast and demanded 
information concerning the settlement she had left. Uncovering 
her neck and bosom, with the fire of patriotism flashing from her 


Union County : Economic and Social 


17 


eyes, she exclaimed: “You may shoot, if you dare, but I will not 
tell you.” She once saved the life of her father by rushing be¬ 
tween him and a pistol aimed at his breast by an infuriated Tory, 
On another occasion her brother sent home for his rifle. Dicey 
demanded the countersign agreed upon between herself and her 
brother. The messenger jestingly replied that she and the gun 
were now both in his possession. Cocking the gun and aiming 
it at the speaker, she exclaimed: “If it is in your possession, take 
it,” and the countersign was immediately forthcoming. 

Jane Thomas, wife of Col. John Thomas, Sr., while visiting her 
husband who was a prisoner at Ninety Six, overhearing a con¬ 
versation of Tory women that the Loyalists intended to surprise 
the Whigs at Cedar Springs, hurried there and gave them warn¬ 
ing. Nancy Jackson, who lived in an Irish settlement on Fair- 
forest creek, kicked a Tory down stairs as he was descending, 
loaded with plunder. Ann Hamilton was insulted by a Tory, who 
was about to apply a torch to her father’s house. Seizing the 
ruffian by the collar, she sent him sprawling headlong down a flight 
of steps. Bill Haynsworth, a notorious Tory, visited Samuel Mc- 
Junkin’s house to plunder. He placed a quilt he had taken from 
the house on his horse, when Jane, the daughter of Samuel Me- 
Junkin, grabbed it. A scuffle ensued in which Haynsworth slipped, 
and Jane Mejunkin placing her foot on his breast, snatched the 
quilt from his grasp. Anne Kennedy, who lived with her father 
William Kennedy, Esq., on Brown’s creek, passed through a band 
of Tories to carry a message to Gen. Morgan. The story of 
Mary Musgrove, with some added romance, is told in “Horse 
Shoe Robinson.” Benjamin West was captured by the Tories, 
hacked on the head with a sword, and the party stopped at Mrs. 
Wofford’s, the great-great grand mother of Calvin Mayes, of West 
Springs, and ordered her to cook something to eat. She took off 
her handkerchief and bound up the wounded man’s head. The 
Tories proceeded towards Glenn Springs, where West was hanged. 
Mrs. Wofford and some other women cut down the body and 
dragged it on a sled several miles to his home near the Winsmith 
place, where they buried it. 

It is told that John Miller, a Hibernian Whig, of Rutherford 
County, N. C., who had taken part in many engagements in this 
section, was called upon by a brother elder to lead the congrega¬ 
tion in prayer. After returning thanks for many victories of the 
patriots, which were enumerated, he added, “including the ever- 
memorable and glorious battle of Coopens (Cowpens) where we 
made the proud Gineral Tarleton run doon (down) the road hel- 
terskelter, and, Good Lord, if ya had na suffered the cruel Tories 


18 


Union County : Economic and Social 


to burn Billy Hill’s iron works, we would na asked any mair 
favors at thy hands. Amen.” 

Union County is shown on an old map as having once been a 
part of Anson County, N. C., and later it was a part of Ninety-Six 
district. In 1792, by an act of the Legislature, Pinckneyville, the 
old county seat, received its name. The court house and jail were 
moved to Union village in 1800. In 1797 the Legislature granted 
a charter to the Alexandria College, the preamble stating that 
“the Rev. Joseph Alexander, having taught a grammar schooL 
near Pinckneyville, in which a considerable number of students 
have made great proficiency in literary education, and it being 
thought by many pious and public spirited men, that great advan- 
ages would result.” Governor Johnson was one of Alexander’s 
pupils. In 1811 the Union Library Association was chartered by 
the Legislature. Mills’ Statistics of South Carolina, written in 
1826, stated: “There is a library society established in the village, 
which has a respectable library. It is to be regretted that circu¬ 
lating libraries are not common in the district, and measures taken 
to excite a taste for reading among the people.” The same writer 
stated that the village of Union then contained about twenty 
houses and 200 inhabitants, a handsome stone court house and 
jail, recently erected, a respectable academy, and a Presbyterian 
church; that the best lands near the rivers sold for between twen¬ 
ty and thirty dollars per acre, while some of the uplands would 
not bring more than from three to six dollars per acre; that field 
hands were hired at the rates of from eight to ten dollars per 
month. In 1827 an act was passed by the Legislature authorizing 
the commissioners of the streets for the village of Union, “to sup¬ 
erintend and keep in repair the spring supplying the said village 
with water, and for better carrying such object into effect, they 
are authorized to use any money arising from the license of bil¬ 
liard tables, retailing spirituous liquors, and any fines or forfeit¬ 
ures which shall come into their hands.” There is a record of a 
trial for witchcraft in Union County, and possibly one of the last 
trials in America, in which witchcraft was sought to be made an 
issue, was held at Lancaster, S. C., before Judge David Johnson, of 
Union, afterwards governor. The proceedings of this trial may be 
found in the appendix of Vol. II, South Carolina Statutes, page 
743. Col. J. M. Gadberry, of Union, had the honor of naming the 
Palmetto Regiment, which achieved renown on the fields of Mex¬ 
ico. In the early days there were several acts passed by the Leg¬ 
islature in regard to opening navigation on Broad and Pacolet 
rivers, but, after considerable expenditures, including locks at 
Lockhart Shoals, the work was abandoned. The county was with- 


Union County : Economic and Sociau 


19 


out transportation facilities until the railroad from Columbia 
reached Union on October 18, 1858. 

Coming down to the War between the States, we find that Union 
was loyal to the principles bequeathed to her by our Revolution¬ 
ary fathers. On the passage of the Ordinance of Secession in de¬ 
fense of States Rights, Union immediately sent a strong Com¬ 
pany of minute men under Capt. J. M. Gadberry to Charleston, 
which was one of the ten companies that organized Col. Maxcy 
Gregg’s First South Carolina regiment, and they were the first 
troops to reach Virginia in response to her call for help to repel 
the invaders of her soil. 

The Johnson Rifles, Goshen Hill and Pea Ridge companies were 
the next soldiers from Union to enter the services of the Con¬ 
federacy. They were commanded by Captains Wesley Goss, Jack 
Giles and Thomas Glenn. Capt. Giles was killed at Seven Pines 
as Colonel of the 5th Regiment, and James Douglas was captain 
in command of the company at the surrender. Capt. Goss was 
Lieut.-Colonel of the regiment when the war ended, and Richard 
Johnson was then captain in command of the Johnson Rifles. 
Capt. Glenn resigned and J. B. Stcedman was made captain of the 
Pea Ridge company. The figliting character of these companies 
can be estimated when it is remembered that they belonged to the 
brigade of Gen. Micah Jenkins, a dashing young officer who was 
killed at the battle of the Wilderness. 

The next trio of companies to leave Union were commanded by 
Captains Charlie Boyd, W. H. Gist and Dr. William Sims. They 
united with other companies in organizing the 15th South Caro¬ 
lina Regiment. Hon. Joe. Gist, of Union, was elected Lieutenant 
Colonel of the regiment, and Capt. W. H. Gist major. Major Gist 
was Lieutenant Colonel in command of the regiment, when killed 
in the battle of Knoxville, Tenn. 

Capt. Boyd was killed on the picket line in Virginia, and John 
R. Jeffries was the captain in command of the company at the 
surrender. Capt. Sims and then Capt. William Briggs, because 
of ill health, resigned the command of the Mt. Tabor company. 
Captain F. M. Farr, then a mere boy, just graduated from the Cit¬ 
adel, was captain in command of the company at the surrender. 

Four more companies now entered the army from Union com¬ 
manded by Captains F. Scaife, William Mejunkin, Felix Walker 
and Tim Malone. They were the leading factors in organizing 
the 18th Regiment, a command that wore in a marked degree the* 
earmarks of Union from start to finish. J. M. Gadberry, colonel, 
and F. Scaife, lieutenant Colonel, were both Union men, while W. 
H. Wallace, in the ranks of the Macbeth Light Artillery, received 
the appointment of adjutant. At the reorganization of the troops, 


20 


Union County : Economic and Social 


one year later, Col. Scaife retired and Adjt. Wallace was elected 
lieutenant-colonel. When Col. Gadberry was killed at Second 
Manassas, Wallace was elected colonel, and was general com¬ 
manding the brigade at the surrender. When Wallace was made 
colonel, another Union man, Capt. Robt. Betsill, for meritorious 
conduct, was promoted major over three senior captains of the 
regiment, and was in command of the regiment at the surrender. 
Steve Shelton was the last Captain of Gist’s old company. After 
the promotion of Adjutant Wallace, Clough Sims, another Union 
man, was appointed adjutant, and when he was killed in front of 
Petersburg, another Union man, William Munro, was appointed 
adjutant. 

This command, with the brigade to which it belonged, will live 
in history as the troops that suffered in the blow-up in front of 
Petersburg. Among the many Union county soldiers buried alive 
in the crater, Capt. Charner Greer, of Company A, was entombed 
in his riflle pit, but by dexterous use of his sword cut his way out 
to find himself surrounded by blue coats, and he was saved from 
capture by the timely charge of Mahone’s brigade. The late Col. 
John L. Young made the following notes in regard to Company 
A: “Of the whole number enrolled—175—only 25 were surrend¬ 
ered at Appomatox. The remainder, 150, was killed, wounded 
and missing.” 

Capt. Christopher Winsmith’s company was made up about 
equally of men from the counties of Union and Spartanburg. It 
belonged to the Palmetto Sharpshooters and to Jenkins’ fighting 
brigade, and was badly shot to pieces. There may have been other 
infantry companies from Union that are not now recalled. The 
only cavalry company that went from Union was under the com¬ 
mand of Capt. I. G. McKissick. It was a company of stalwart 
men—no better in the service. Capt. McKissick was promoted to 
Lieutenant Colonel, and Lieutenant J. H. Jeter was in command 
of the company at the surrender. 

The Macbeth Light Artillery was the only artillery company 
from Union. It was under the command of Capt. Robert Boyce. 
The company’s baptismal fight was at Graveyard Hill, near Rap¬ 
pahannock Station. It was completely overwhelmed by the super¬ 
ior numbers and the caliber of the enemy’s guns, already occupy¬ 
ing a superior position but extricated itself without capture. 

In the Second Manassas the company went into action on the 
left flank of the Federals, and, in the language of Gen. Longstreet, 
by aid of another company, in less than ten minutes thrice broke 
the triple columns of the enemy, marching in overwhelming num¬ 
bers against Jackson’s battle-thinned lines. At Sharspburg the 
Macbeth was left unsupported on Lee’s right center, when, through 


Union County : Economic and Social 


21 


a mistaken order, brigade after brigade fell back to the foot of 
the hill, but with a courage that .counted no odds and with a rapid 
and deadly fire, with double shotted canister at close range, the 
enemy were kept back until the 18th South Carolina came to its 
support. Virtually without support, the Macbeth beat back 1,500 
troops at Asheville, N. C., and in this action fired the last cannon 
of the Confederacy east of the Mississippi River. B. A. Jeter was 
captain of the company at the close of the war. 

Gen. States Rights Gist, another Union man, was killed at 
Franklin, Tenn., in command of a South Carolina brigade. 

Incidents in Union County’s history during the days of recon¬ 
struction are told in published narratives of South Carolina’s trials 
during that period, and the Congressional Record contains much 
unwritten history of the stormy days until the State was redeemed 
from the rule of carpet-baggers and negro domination forced on 

the people at the point of Federal bayonets. When tlie State was 
being redeemed from radical rule, Gen. W. H. Wallace was speaker 
of the “Wallace House.” During the reconstruction period a part 
of the Seventh Cavalry was stationed at Union, one company, 
under Col. Thomson, being encamped on the old Powell place, 
and two companies, under Capt. French and Col. Tom Custer, 
had their camps on the north side of Main Street, about a mile 
from town. Later, these troops were sent west to fight the In¬ 
dians and, on June 25, 1876, Gen. George A. Custer and his entire 
command were massacred in the battle of the Little Big Horn. 
In this battle, Rain-in-the-Face, who years before had been arrested 
by Col. Tom Custer, now sought his revenge by cutting out and 
eating the heart and liver of the man who had humiliated him. 
While at Union, Col. Tom Custer was made a Mason by the Union 
Lodge. One of Custer’s men, who died while the command was 
at Union, was buried in the Episcopal Church yard and several 
in the town cemetery, the bodies being later removed to a national 
cemetery. 

In the Spanish-American War, Union County was represented 
by the Johnson Rifles, Capt. James E. Hunter commanding; Wil¬ 
liam C. McGowan and C. H. Norman, lieutenants; R. L. McNally, 
first sergeant; and the second sergeant was Macbeth Young, who 
later rendered conspicuous service on the County Exemption 
Board during the war with Germany. 

The history of Union County in the World War need not now 
be written, as it is fresh in the minds of the people. Union Coun¬ 
ty is said to have been the first county in the United States to 
furnish its quota. No men were called in the first draft, as more 
than the required number had already volunteered. 

The citizens of Union County have served in positions of res- 


/ 


22 Union County: Economic and Social 

ponsibility in times of peace, as they have done on the field of bat¬ 
tle. Abraham T. Nott, David Johnson, Sr., T. N. Dawkins, Wil¬ 
liam H. Wallace, and D. A, Townsend served on the bench; Abra¬ 
ham Nott, Joseph Gist, Sr., Col. Clowney, and Daniel Wallace 
represented the district in Congress; David Johnson, Sr., W. H. 
Gist, Sr., and T. B. Jeter were governors of the State; and James 
Davis was the founder of the State Asylum for the Insane. In 
1893, T. C. Duncan built the first cotton mill and started the work 
which resulted in the county’s becoming a textile manufacturing 
center, before which time the people relied upon agriculture as 
their only sustaining industry. 

Union County has in her historical background the deeds of a 
bold yeomanry, which have been “their country’s pride.” Whether 
in daily pursuits or in the country’s cause, the people of Union 
have always met the test when truth and honor called for defend¬ 
ers, and posterity will have no reason to be ashamed of the place 
Union County is destined to occupy in the history of South Caro¬ 
lina. 


II. 


NATURAL RESOURCES 


R. M. Hope. 

'K - 


Geography 

Union County is located in the northwestern part of South Caro¬ 
lina, wholly within the Piedmont plateau. -It is bounded on the 
north by the Pacolet River, which separates it from Cherokee 
County; on the east by Broad River, which separates it from 
York, Chester, and Fairfield counties; on the south by the Tiger 
and Enoree rivers, which separate it from Newberry and Laurens 
counties; and on the west by Spartanburg County. The area of 
the county is 492 square miles, or 314,488 acres; in size, ranking 
thirty-seventh among the counties of the State. 

The general topography of the county is that of a moderately 
sloping plain, so thoroughly dissected by stream erosion, that 
much of the county is, when considered in detail, rolling and hilly. 
Minor ridges extend across the northern part of the county, and 
another across the southern part between the Tiger and Enoree 
rivers. The streams have rapid currents, and but little overflow 
land has been developed in the wearing down of the uplands. Oc¬ 
casionally, the slopes along streams are quite abrupt, but in most 
cases they are moderately sloping. Hence, most of the county is 
suitable for agricultural operations, but there are many slopes 
sufficiently steep to cause the soils to erode badly under cultiva¬ 
tion, unless terraced or left in timber and grass. 

Climate 

The climate of Union County is mild and equable, and admirably 
suited to a wide range of crops. While the variation in tempera¬ 
ture is greater than that along the scacoast, it is much less than 
that prevailing in the mountainous country farther inland. The 
summers are long and hot; the winters short and mild. With 
occasional exceptions the summer weather is not oppressive. Usu¬ 
ally there is freezing weather during the winter months, with 
occasional sleet storms and snow flurries. Outdoor work is pos¬ 
sible, however, during the greater part of the winter. The average 
date of the last killing frost in the spring is April 3, and of the 




24 


Union County : Economic and Social 


first in the fall October 26, giving a growing season of about seven 
months. The county has an average annual rainfall of about 48 
inches. The precipitation is well distributed throughout the 
growing season and is ample for the successful production of 
crops. 

Following is a table of the normal monthly, seasonal, and annual 
temperature and precipitation at Santuck. 


Normal Monthly, Seasonal, and Annual Temperature and Precip¬ 
itation at Santuck 



Temperature 

Precipitation 



S 

1 






a 

1 






! ^ 

’5 



ul 

Month 



s 


u.' 

a 

<u 

<u 




o 


> 



c 

o 


c 

{ft 

VI 

<v 


rt 

w 


rt 

.<u 

4-> 

<u 


i) 

S 

< 

JS 

C 

v 

X 

Q 


December .... 

43.2 

80 

1 

' 4.10 

3.96 

4.20 

Tanuary .... .. 

42.1 

74 

6 

3.52 

2.35 

6.41 

February ... 

41.6 

75 

(-11) 

5.19 

3.92 

5.82 

Winter ... .... .. 

48.3 



12.81 

10.23 

16.43 

March ...... . 

53.8 

92 

12 

4.23 

3.03 

4.49 

April ... . 

59.3 

93 

24 

3.61 

0.98 

2.88 

May _ 

70.1 

101 

36 

3.04 

1.75 

2.86 

Spring ... 

61.1 



10.88 

5.76 

10.23 

June _____ 

“76.'2~ 

100 

46 

“X99~ 

”2.72 

~4.47 

July--- 

79.3 

104 

52 

4.89 

7.13 

4.66 

August ..... 

78.1 

105 

53 

5.79 

9.57 

14.99 

Summer ... 

77.9 



14.67 

19.42 

23.82 

September .. 

73.0 

100 

39 

3.41 

1.00 

1.75 

October .... 

61.0 

92 

26 

3.24 

0.38 

6.26 

November ... 

51.2 

80 

13 

2.90 

3.19 

1.86 

Winter ... 

61.7 



9.55 

4.57 

9.87 

Year .... 

60.8 . 

105 

(-11) 

47.91 

39.99 

60.35 










































Union County: Economic and Social 


25 


Altitude 

Elevations above sea level in Union County vary from nearly 
700 feet in the northwestern part of the county to about 300 feet 
at Broad River in the southeastern part. The South Carolina 
Weather Bureau records the elevation at Santuck as 512 feet above 
sea level. Topographically, the county as a whole, is well adapted 
to agricultural operations, but some of the steepest slopes are so 
gullied as to be of no value for agriculture. 

Soils 

The soils of Union County are separated according to origin 
into two groups; the residual upland soils and the alluvial soils 
of the river and minor stream bottoms. 

In Union County there are fifteen distinct soil types mapped, 
and these types are separated mainly on the basis of the texture. 
They are grouped into seven series on the basis of similarity of 
origin, color, or range of color of the soil and subsoil and general 
topographic conditions. The area and names of the seven series 
are as follows: Cecil, 80.1 per cent; Meadow, 6.2 per cent; Ap¬ 
pling, 5.2 per cent; Iredell, 4.8 per cent; Congaree, 1.3 per cent; 
Mecklenburg, 0.7 per cent; and, rough gullied, 0.7 per cent. The 
first series comprises over two-thirds of the land area of the coun¬ 
ty. Hence, it is worthy of a detailed description. 

The most predominant soil around the city of Union is the Cecil 
sandy loam, with spots of Cecil clay loam intermingled. In the 
vicinity of Jonesville, there is a wide variation in the type of soil. 
The Cecil sandy loam is the most important type, but there are 
spots of Cecil coarse sandy loam and Cecil fine sandy loam. In 
the Pea Ridge section of the county, the Cecil sandy loam is 
practically the only type of soil to be found. The Cecil stony 
clay is found on the hill surrounding Lockhart. This is probably 
the largest development of this type of soil in the county. In the 
southern section of the county, around Carlisle and Santuck, the 
prevailing type of soil is the Cecil coarse sandy loam, but the Ap- 
ling coarse sandy loam is predominant around and north of San¬ 
tuck, and is known as “Santuck land." 

The Cecil sandy loam is the most extensive soil type in the 
county. Its surface soil extending to a depth of about five to 
seven inches is predominantly gray, ranging to grayish brown or 
light brown. It is a good general farming soil, easy to cultivate 
and responsive to good treatment. It gives good yields of cotton, 
corn, oats, and forage crops. It is also well suited for use in 
dairying and stock raising. This type of soil is widely developed 


26 


Union County : Economic and Social 


in the southwestern section in the vicinity of Sedalia. A large 
area of this type of soil occurs in the Pea Ridge section of the 
county. 

The Cecil clay loam comprises 21.6 per cent of the land area of 
the county. It varies from a stiff clay to a red clay loam, having 
a stiff tenacious, red clay subsoil. The Cecil clay loam is formed 
largely by erosion, which has more or less completely removed 
the original sandy surface. Practically all of the Cecil clay loam 
has been or is being cultivated. Cotton, corn, and oats are about 
the only crops grown. The yields from these crops are not high, 
but with improvement of the tilth of the soil and proper fertiliza¬ 
tion, together with the growing of leguminous crops, there can be 
no reason why yields could not be greatly increased. The largest 
single body of this soil occurs in the southeastern part, south of 
Carlisle. 

The Cecil fine sandy loam comprises about 12.2 per cent of the 
land area of the county. Its surface soil is gray, ranging to light 
brown. It is underlain by a red clay similar to the subsoil of the 
Cecil sandy loam. The surface varies from gently rolling to 
slightly hilly. Drainage is practically everywhere well developed. 
This soil is one of the best upland soils of the county for general 
farming. It is easily tilled, and wherever care is exercised, crops 
give a good yield. The largest development of this soil type is 
in the vicinity of Cross Keys and West Springs. 

Mineral Resources 

The miaeral resources of Union County, as far as yet discovered, 
consist of granite, gold, marble, and soapstone. None of these 
seem to have been mined for a long time. In most cases they 
have been prospected for a short time but soon were abandoned 
altogether. 

Granite of good texture is found about 1.5 miles south of Union, 
and 3.9 miles west of Union. Both of these quarries are utilized 
by the city and county respectively, as a source of supply for road 
material. 

An extensive exposure of coarse soapstone has been found near 
Lockhart. 

Marble has been found 12 miles southwest of Union, but mining 
has been abandoned altogether. 

Several deposits of gold have been discovered near West 
Springs, and Glenn Springs. The Ophir mine near Glenn Springs 
was an irregular producer of gold during 1906. The inclusions 
are of such a character as to make the cost of mining all out of 
proportion to the profits secured. 


Union County : Economic and Social 


27 


Timber 

According to the 1920 Census, there are 91,881 acres of wood¬ 
land in Union County. This is 29.2 per cent of the total area of 
the county. Union ranking sixteenth in this particular. The best 
consists of short leaf pine. Walnut, yellow poplar, oak and gum, 
are in the mixture of hardwoods. 

Statistics are not available as to the number of feet of merchant¬ 
able timber specific for the county. The 1921 report of the State 
Commissioner of Agriculture gives Union County $50,000 as the 
value of the lumber and timber products for that year. 

The four industries in Union County which outrank the lumber 
business in 1921 are electricity, mineral and soda waters, oil mills, 
and textile establishments. 

It is interesting to note the timber situation in the State as a 
whole. In 1919 the United States Forest Service recorded 
13,889,000,000 feet as the stand of merchantable pine timber in 
South Carolina. The figure given for 1908 is approximately 
45,000,000,000. The decrease is rapidly seen to be marked. The 
annual growth in the State is estimated to be 250,000,000 feet. 
Over the country as a whole, our consumption of timber is four 
times as great as our annual growth. At this rate, and it repre¬ 
sents a conservative estimate, we are sustaining in this State, a’ 
deficit of three-quarters of a billion feet annually. Such forest 
depletion will not allow many years until we have killed the goose 
that laid the golden egg. It is time we are taking intelligent 
steps toward the proper utilization or conservation of our forest 
resources. 

Water Power 

The high altitude of Union County has given rise to numerous 
streams. The Broad River, forming the dividing line between 
Union and Chester counties, and the Tiger River flowing through 
the southwestern portion of the county are the most important 
streams. 

The data available on our waterpower resources in South Caro¬ 
lina are very meagre and unsatisfying. The following are derived 
largely from Watson^s Handbook of South Carolina. 

The Broad River rises in the mountains of North Carolina, and 
carrying the drainage from 1,400 square miles, it enters this State 
at an elevation of 120 feet above sea level, giving a total fall of 
630 feet and having a total drainage area of 4,950 square miles. 

The Union Manufacturing and Power Company located at 
Neal's Shoals has made a 24-foot development, giving 8,000 horse 
power, which is used to drive cotton mills in Union. 


28 


Union County : Economic and Social 


At Lockhart Shoals, about 12 miles above the Union Manufac¬ 
turing and Power Company’s dam, the river has a fall of 50 feet 
and a drainage area of 2,400 square miles. The Lockhart Power 
Company has recently constructed a dam and power house at this 
point,' which ranks as one of the largest of the State. The plant 
is developed for 15,000 horse power, and under the present scheme 
is complete. It has a 33,000 volt transmission line extending to 
Union and Jonesville. 

There are estimated to be 250 feet of undeveloped fall on this 
river, which could be developed at other points. 

The Tiger river has a drainage area of 920 square miles and a 
fall of 6 or 7 feet to the mile. Its powers are small, but its head 
waters are capable of furnishing several hundred horse power. 
At Hill’s Factory between Union and Laurens on this river, there 
is a fall of 40 feet which should be of value. The drainage area 
at this point is 308 square miles. 


III. 


UNION COUNTY TOWNS 


R. U. Hope. 


Union 

In tlie Piedmont section of the State on the main line of the 
Southern Railroad, between Columbia and Spartanburg, stands 
the city of Union, the county seat of Union County. To most 
South Carolinians Union needs no introduction; for, it has long 
been known for its high grade citizenship, its hospitality and cor¬ 
diality, as well as for its patriotism and progressiveness. 

The history of Union begins in the year 1755 when a church 
was built near the site of the present Monarch Mills, and known 
as Union Church, possibly because Presbyterians, Episcopalians 
and all denominations worshipped here together. 

The population of the city of Union proper was 6,141, according 
to the 1920 Census, Including its suburbs, the inhabitants number. 
14,000, The large number of cotton mills account for some of 
these people, there being four cotton mills in the suburbs of Union, 
and two big hosiery mills. Although the city of Union is not a 
manufacturing city, still there are a number of important manu¬ 
facturing concerns in the town. Some of the more important ones 
are: An extensively advertised stock remedies and shampoo soap 
manufacturing concern; a large cannery putting out “Union Maid 
Products;” an up-to-date laundry; an iron foundry; a coffin factory; 
and a cotton oil mill. 

The city owns its electric light plant and its water works and 
sewerage system, both being worth approximately $236,022.23. 
There are 23 miles of cement pavement; and, $300,000 worth of 
paved streets are now under construction, which when completed 
will give Union a paved street for all of its principal thorough¬ 
fares. 

The city also owns its public recreation grounds of 8 acres, com¬ 
posed of a splendid ball ground, a swimming pool, and complete 
modern playground equipment. 

There are four banks in Union; The Nicholson Bank and Trust 
Company, Emslie Nicholson, President, with a capital stock of 




30 


Union County : Economic and Social 


$200,000; The Citizens National Bank, Richard 1. Morgan, Pres¬ 
ident, which is capitalized at $150,000; The Bank of Union, C. C. 
Sanders, President, with a capital stock of $150,000; and The 
Farmers Bank and Trust Company, C. H. Peake, President, with 
a capital stock of $100,000. 

There are two newspapers; one a daily, and the other a weekly. 
Mr. L. M. Rice is editor of “The Union Daily Times,” and Mr. 
Allan Nicholson is editor of “The Progress.” 

Something of special interest to the people of Union at present 
is the erection of a $100,000 modern hotel to be opened in 1924. 
This project has been successfully handled through the live or¬ 
ganization known as the Young Men’s Business League, of which 
Mr. W. S. Nicholson is president. 

In the chapter on “Evidences of Progress” will be found a fuller 
discussion of the organizations and institutions which are con¬ 
tributing towards making Union move securely forward among 
the progressive towns of the State. 

Jonesville ' 

Jonesville, the second largest town in the county, is situated 
in the northern part of Union County, on the Columbia and Ashe¬ 
ville division of the Southern Railroad, ten miles north of Union, 
and eighteen miles south of Spartanburg, and is located in the 
very heart of the Piedmont. The population, acording to the 
United States Census of 1920 was 1,209. 

The town of Jonesville gets its name from Charles Jones, one 
of the pioneers in that section of the country. Mr. Jones lived 
one mile north of the town, only a short distance from the South¬ 
ern Railroad. The first postoffice, of which he was postmaster, 
was kept there, but was finally moved to its present location near 
the center of town. When the Spartanburg and Union Railroad 
was completed in 1858, the town was in its embryo; the post- 
office, depot, three stores, and two residences being all of the 
buildings there. There was little or no growth until the years 
1875 to 1879, when churches were organized, and schools were 
built. In the year 1876, the town was incorporated, with B. B. 
Foster, leader of the dry ticket, as the first Intendant. 

Jonesville has quite a number of business institutions for a 
town of its size. There are perhaps twenty-five stores in the 
town, an oil mill, a cotton mill, an opera house, garages, and 
many minor institutions. In addition to these, there are two 
banks, the Bank of Jonesville, which is capitalized at $50,000; 
Everybody’s Bank, which has a capital stock of $25,000. A point 
of special interest is the nice brick school building, with the best 


Union County : Economic and Social 


31 


of modern equipment. The people of Jonesville are taking much 
pride in their school and are making strong efforts to give their 
children the best educational advantages possible. 

With excellent advantages of location, a good high school, 
healthy climate, good telephone system, and the best railroad 
facilities, Jonesville is a growing town. Its business enterprises 
are increasing both in number and in magnitude. It has thus far 
developed remarkably for its age and bids fair in the future to 
surpass all previous records for improvements. 

Lockhart 

Lockhart is one of the thriving mill towns of South Carolina, 
with about two thousand inhabitants. Although it has existed 
for only about twenty-seven years, it has grown to be one of the 
flourishing mill villages of the State and ranks third in the coun¬ 
ty in size and importance. Great progress has been made during 
the last few years, and, when present plans are completed, the 
population will be increased to about twenty-three hundred peo¬ 
ple, and the mills will run both day and night. The town is sit¬ 
uated on the banks of Broad River just across from Chester County. 

In the year 1896, a stock company, under the leadership of Mr. 
John Cary, decided to build a mill at the point where the present 
town is located. Their decision was influenced greatly by the 
fact that at this point there is a 50 foot fall in the river which 
would give an ample supply of water power to run the mill. The 
machinery for this mill was hauled by wagon from the nearest 
railroad station, which at that time was Sharon, a distance of 23 
miles. After many years of toil and discouragement the mill was 
completed, being equipped with 25,000 spindles. Mr. Cary became 
the first president of the mill. In 1905 a second mill containing 
40,000 spindles was built, it being run by water power also. In 
1907 Mr. Cary resigned and Mr. Alfred Moore became president, 
and following him Mr. W. D. Anderson was president. However, 
in 1914, Mr. C. E. Winchester became the head of the mills with 
the title of Treasurer. In 1918, the Lockhart Mills were combined 
with the Monarch Mills, with Mr. Emslie Nicholson as Treasurer, 
and Mr. J. Roy Fant as Assistant Treasurer and General Manager 
of both mills. A railroad was built early in the Twentieth Cen¬ 
tury from Lockhart, a distance of 13 miles, joining the main line 
of the Southern Railroad at Lockhart Junction. 

Many years ago cotton was floated down Broad River to be 
loaded in Columbia for shipment. A canal had to be built at a 
point near the present town in order that the rafts might avoid 

/ 


A, 


32 


Union County: Economic and Social 


the shoals which have always been called Lockhart Shoals. The 
ruins of the canal still remain. 

In 1915 it was found necessary to enlarge the dam in order to 
supply enough water to pull the two mills. Again, in 1922, a 
power plant was completed which now furnishes electric power 
for the mills at Lockhart, Union, Buffalo, and Jonesville. 

In 1921 a magnificent steel and concrete bridge, of 700 foot 
span was built across Broad River at Lockhart. This structure 
joins Union and Chester counties, and with the splendid highways 
now being constructed in both counties, makes it one of the main 
highways from the lower part of the State to the mountains. 

Lockhart is a progressive little mill village, with paved streets, 
running water, and electric lights in all the homes, a nice theatre, 
and an up-to-date swimming pool. Lockhart has four church 
congregations, two Baptist, one Presbyterian, and one Methodist. 
Only the Baptists and Presbyterians- have church buildings of 
their own, but the Methodists expect to build soon. A hand¬ 
some school building has recently been completed, being provided 
with all modern conveniences. There is an enrollment of 409, with 
12 teachers. 

Lockhart has shown marked growth in the past few years, and 
gives every evidence that it will cbntinue to grow during the com¬ 
ing years in all that goes to make up a progressive community. 

Buffalo 

Buffalo is a mill village situated about the central part of Union 
County, and lies four miles west of the city of Union on the 
Union-Buffalo and Carolina Railroad which runs from Buffalo 
through Union to the Seaboard. It is on the State Highway be¬ 
tween Union and Spartanburg. 

It is first and last a mill town. The Buffalo plant of the Union- 
Buffalo Mills Company is located there in the valley of Buffalo 
Creek. The town proper is built on a hill west of this stream 
and is about 1,150 feet above sea level. Its population of eighteen 
hundred occupy three hundred and seventy nicely built, three to 
nine room dwelling houses. The village also has two churches, 
a large school house, four grocery stores, two drug stores, two 
meat markets, a bank, a beautiful theatre building, and a nice ball 
park. To make everything up-to-date in the village, five and one- 
half miles of sewage mains, and five miles of cast iron water mains 
have been laid. There are also eighteen thousand feet of con¬ 
crete sidewalk with curb and gutters. 

Some of the features of special mention in this village are the 
handsome mill structure with its fine office building, the well 


Union County: Economic and Social 


33 


equipped $30,000 theatre building, the handsome ball park, and 
the power plant. 


Carlisle 

After the completion of the Southern Railway between Spar¬ 
tanburg and Columbia in the year 1854, there began to form a 
little settlement fifteen miles south of what is now Union. This 
settlement took the name of Fish Dam, because near it, on Broad 
River, was a ferry known as Fish Dam Ferry. This ferry, in turn, 
took its name from an old fish dam erected near it in the same 
river, by means of which, it is said, there were caught great quan¬ 
tities of shad that were hauled away by the wagon loads. The 
old ferry is of historical importance because of the Revolutionary 
“Battle of Fish Dam,” fought near it. 

Fish Dam did not increase in population to any considerable 
degree until the Seaboard Air Line Railroad was built near it in 
the year 1892. This railroad crossed the Southern Railroad at a 
point about a mile above Fish Dam, and the station was moved 
to that point. 

At this time certain parties in Union, S. C., formed an invest¬ 
ment company and bought a large tract of land near the.junction 
of these two roads; and hoping to boost the place, had the name 
of the postoffice changed from Fish Dam to Carlisle, thinking 
thereby the name would be of some attraction and bring about 
industrial development. 

The first business of Carlisle began when J. G. Rice and Com¬ 
pany opened up a store of general merchandise. It may be added 
also that Mr. Rice was one of the earliest settlers of Carlisle, and 
figured largely in its advancement. Other early settlers were: 
G. W. Hill, Russell Jeter, J. T. Hill, J. P. Sartor, William Kelly, 
John W. Kelly, Jas. B. Jeter, J. C. Richards, Jas. Tucker, W. T. 
Jeter, Dr. Larry Sims,_ Pink Sims, and Tom Jeter. 

Carlisle of today lias a -population of 367 (Census of 1920J, 
which is an increase over the censuses taken prior to this time. 
It is located in the center of a good farming and timber section; 
the chief crops of which are cotton and corn. Being situated at 
the junction of the Southern and Seaboard railways, its railroad 
facilities are excellent. Within the last three years there have 
also been many improvements made as to highway construction, 
so that there are now two main top-soiled highways, along with 
a number of other roads in good condition leading into Carlisle. 

Among the number of thriving enterprises in Carlisle are in¬ 
cluded two very progressive banks, several merchandise estab¬ 
lishments, two large warehouses, and recently there has been es* 


34 


Union County : Economic and Social 


tablishd a large lumber mill. Carlisle has three churches and a 
comparatively new school building. 

The negroes also take an active part in the growth of the town. 
Besides getting up a number of small businesses for themselves, 
they have erected five churches and there is a school for them 
within the incorporated limits. 

Santuc 

A good many people have asked me if the name “Santuc” was 
not an Indian name, and I am afraid I have answered these some¬ 
what evasively, conveying the impression that it was. As a matter 
of fact, Santuc was so named (as are several other localities in 
South Carolina) simply because of the character of the soil: it 
was originally “Sand Tuck,” later becoming “Santuc” either for 
euphony’s sake or because some one was a poor speller. Nor has 
Santuc any right to be called a town, either, for except a brief 
period in the eighties, before the building of the Seaboard Railroad, 
by Carlisle, Santuc never was incorporated as a town and has 
always prided itself on being a locality—not a municipality—and 
it is this locality, with its century old traditions and history of 
which the present day Santucian is so proud. 

Santuc township, one of the largest in the county, runs from 
near Hughes’s Ferry on Broad River southwest to the Tyger, 
but the true Santuc—the Santuc to which all loyal Santucians, 
whether you meet them in Columbia or Timbuctoo, are so de¬ 
voted, is an area of about 35 to 40 square miles with Santuc village 
as an approximate center. This area is sandy and comparatively 
level, while the rest of Union County is clayey and hilly. 

The Quakers who came early in the 18th Century, were the first 
settlers of Santuc. About 1750, the Virginians came in consid¬ 
erable numbers and following Braddock’s defeat in 1755 there 
was a large number of Pennsylvanians w^io settled here. The 
Quakers all left between 1800 and 1820, due to their opposition 
to slavery, and settled in southern Ohio and Indiana. Later, dur¬ 
ing the War of Secession, these same Quakers were the most de¬ 
termined haters and opponents of the Southern Cause. The 
Pennsylvanians, though they were never slave holders to any ex¬ 
tent, nor to any great degree, large landowners, remained, and 
today their descendants form some of our most reliable and sub¬ 
stantial citizens. The Virginians owned slaves, became prosper¬ 
ous and were large plantation owners. Our Santuc people of 
today are largely descendants of these pioneers, and fully half 
of the families here can trace their lineage back to the Revolution. 
It speaks well for any community when its people hold on to the 


Union County : Economic and Social 


35 


soil, the customs, and may I add, the prejudices, inherent for a 
century and a half. 

Santuc village, as it stands today, is a little “settlement” of 
half a dozen stores, three churches, a ginnery, and a modern 
school building. 

To the'west of the town four or five miles, is the ruin of “Fort 
Otterson,” an old fort and block house built about 1760 for pro¬ 
tection against the Indians; and, later during the Revolutionary 
War, the scene of many scrimmages between the Whigs and 
Tories. A writer in “The State” recently gave the location of 
this old fort as being at Bowles’ Hill on Broad River, seven or 
eight miles to the southeast. For the sake of correctness, the 
local D. A. R should have this matter settled now and definitely. 

Perhaps the greatest asset of Santuc has not been its natural 
advantages, either in an agricultural or manufacturing sense, but 
its people. Santuc people have always had good schools. Even 
fifty years ago, when the public school system of our county and 
State was almost zero, Santuc was noted for her schools and her 
well informed people. Probably from no rural district in the 
State have more boys and girls gone forth to high schools and 
colleges in proportion to its population than from Santuc. The 
chief strength of Santuc has always been its educated and “well 
read” farming class—men and women who can hold their own in 
any company, no matter how well informed. 

In agriculture, like all the rest of the Piedmont country, Santuc 
has been an exclusively cotton growing section, and under the 
“share cropper” system, has let her soil become run down and 
eroded, until much of her lands are not now profitable. Yet, 
there is no section of the whole country that is the superior of 
Santuc for growing small fruits and grapes. Peaches, too, do ex¬ 
tremely well. 

It would not be fair to Santuc to close this short sketch with¬ 
out telling something of its churches and the religious side of its 
people. As I said at the outset, the original settler were from 
Virginia and Pennsylvania chiefly; the Virginians were Episco¬ 
palians, the Pennsylvanians, almost to a man, were Presbyterians; 
the Baptists, now so numerous in this section, were almost with¬ 
out representation, while the Methodists, except for an occasional 
circuit rider from the North, were almost unknown. Two miles 
from Santuc was old Cane Creek Church (Presbyterian) built in 
1784, and rich in historic reminiscences. This church was one of 
the three oldest in Union County and its first session was com¬ 
posed of 4 elders—all four Revolutionary soldiers; two of them 
majors in the Continental Army, and one the first sheriff of Union 
County. About 1882 this building was torn down and moved to 


36 


Union County : Economic and Social 


the village of Santuc, the material of the old building being largely 
used in the new. 

The Baptists began worshipping about 1845 in a ramshackle 
old house in a grove just northwest of Santuc station. This house 
was destroyed a little later and a commodious building was 
erected. This building was destroyed by fire, said to be incendi¬ 
ary, and in 1854, the present large building was erected by the 
rapidly increasing congregation. Its interior was remodelled in 
,1921. ' 

The Methodist Church was built about 40 years ago and was an 
offshoot of old Gilliam’s Chapel, three miles west of Santuc. 

These are the three churches of Santuc. Today, in Santuc, 
nearly 50 per cent of the church members are Baptists, the Pres¬ 
byterians coming next, and the Methodists third. I know of no 
Episcopalians here. The people are a religious people, serving 
God, obeying the law and standing always for what is right and 
best in citizenship. 


Cross Keys 

Cross Keys is a purely rural spot, not having a corporate gov¬ 
ernment, nor even the close proximity of a railroad, but it is the 
civic center of a township by the same name. It is situated on the 
Old Buncombe Road, 67 miles northwest of Columbia at the point 
where the Union to Laurens top-soil State Highway crosses, being 
12 miles south of Union, the nearest railroad point. 

The enterprises other than purely agricultural pursuits, are 
ample country store facilities, ginneries, mills, etc., such as are 
usually found in the center of a thriving farming section. From 
a farming viewpoint, Cross Keys is easily among the best town¬ 
ships in its section of the State. The soil is naturally fertile, and 
varies in type from the finest sandy loams to the full red clays. 
Seventy per cent of the land is level enough to warrant the suc¬ 
cessful operation of modern farming machinery, and is, at the same 
time, undulating enough to secure perfect natural drainage. 

Relatively dense population, substantial homes, well kept farms, 
good roads, excellent schools, and live churches are outstanding 
characteristics of this community. Ownership of homes and 
farms, it is needless to say, predominate. Social relations are of 
the finest. Besides schools and churches there are the Masonic, 
Eastern Star, Woodmen, Junior U. D. C.’s and some minor or¬ 
ganizations, all of which contribute to make this a fine place in 
which to live. 

Traditions of the raising of a mighty flag-pole and bon fires on 
receipt of the news of the Declaration of Independence, of mus- 


Union County : Economic and Social 


37 


tarings and volunteering and actual records of service, testify to 
the patriotic proclivities of our forebears. 

Historically, much could be said, but space is limited. Among 
the earlier settlers were the Bobos, Murphys, Baileys, Wilburns, 
Rays, Betsills, Martins, Boyces, and Normans, all of whom, except 
the last three, left numerous descendants which still occupy this 
and contiguous vicinities. 

Some of the interesting land marks of older days are: The 
Cross Keys Mansion, built in 1812 by the Bobos; the Myers Home, 
and the Boyces Home, built about the same time; and the Betsill 
Home, built in 1827. 

Possibly the greatest contribution of Cross Keys to the world 
is in the number and quality of her citizens that have gone into 
other communities. Many of the leading citizens of a half dozen 
adjacent towns were born and reared in old Cross Keys, or are of 
parents reared there. This sturdiness and sobriety of character 
is traceable to the influence of her churches which have always 
stood for a high ideal in living. Old Padgett’s Creek, a Baptist 
church, has stood for over 130 years as a mighty power in shap¬ 
ing the life and character, not only of her membership, but of the 
entire community. Old Shiloh and Belmont of the Methodist 
denomination, in earlier days, also contributed to the maintenance 
of a high standard of citizenship. 


IV. 


UNION INDUSTRIES 


R. M. Hope. 


I 

According to the 1921 Report of the State Commissioner of 
Agriculture, Commerce and Industries, the value of the annual 
product from all of the manufacturing plants in Union County was 
$8,629,209. In capital invested in textile industries, Union ranks 
fourth with $11,761,707. In all industries, the capital employed is 
$13,368,811. The value of the eleven principal crops of the county 
in 1921 was $2,834,000. These figures show that although Union 
County is considered as an agricultural county, yet it is decidely 
a manufacturing county. In 1921 there were 3,457 people em¬ 
ployed by all the industries in the county as compared with 2,817 
farms for the same period. The population of the mill villages 
of the county is estimated to be 8,950, or 29.4 per cent of the total 
of the county. 

Rank in State and Nation 

Union County ranks seventh among the counties of the State in 
the value of the annual product of textile establishments with 
$8,109,634 worth of goods produced. The county, with seven 
mills, ranks seventh in the State in the number of textile estab¬ 
lishments. The capital invested in these is $11,634,311. The mills 
employ 3,457 people. Those counties which outranked Union in 
textile operations in 1921 were Spartanburg, Greenville, Ander¬ 
son, York, Richland, and Greenwood. 

While traditionally and fundamentally an agricultural state. 
South Carolina has the unique distinction of being second in the 
South and third in the United States in the extent and importance 
of the textile manufacturing industry. 

Combined Figures on Textiles 

Union County had in 1921 a total of 334,828 spindles, of which 
262,060 are in the mills of the city of Union. The total amount 
of capital employed by the mills of the county is approximately 
$11,000,000. The annual output of the mills of the county for 




Union County : Economic and Social 


39 


1921 was $8,109,634. The average number of people employed in 
the mills was 3,456. The total wages paid the employees for the 
year 1921, not including the managers, was $2,173,612. 

, Union-Buffalo Mills Company 

The Union-Buffalo Mills Company was incorporated in 1906 as 
a consolidation of the Union Cotton Mills, and the Buffalo Cotton 
Mills. 

The Buffalo, Union-Carolina Railroad and the Union Manufac¬ 
turing and Power Company are controlled by the Union-Buffalo 
Mills Company. This corporation owns the mills at Buffalo and 
at Union. Mr. Herman C. Fleitman is president. The two mills 
combined operate 152,800 spindles and 4,061 looms. The types of 
goods made by these mills are prints, sheetings, drills, and duck. 

Monarch Mills 

The Monarch Mill was incorporated in 1900, but was reincor¬ 
porated in 1917 to consolidate with Lockhart Mill at Lockhart, 
South Carolina—both plants under the name of Monarch Mills. 
At the present time both mills operate 135,712 spindles and have 
a capital stock of $4,000,000. Mr. W. E. Winchester is president. 
Prints and sheetings constitute the class of goods manufactured. 

Victor-Monaghan Mills 

The Victor-Monaghan corporation was chartered in 1915 and 
has a capital stock of $5,943,000. Mr. W. E. Beattie is president. 
The Ottaray Mill is a branch of the Greenville corporation. This 
plant operates 22,650 spindles and consumes approximately 4,000 
bales of cotton annually. The Wallace plant at Jonesville oper¬ 
ates 15,584 spindles and 424 looms. Dobby weaves and sheeting 
are the products manufactured. 

Excelsior Knitting Mill 

The Excelsior Knitting Mill was incorporated in 1896 and has 
a capital stock of $500,000. Mr. Emslic Nicholson is president. 
The mill has 5,265 spindles, and employs 500 people. Cotton 
hosiery and yarns constitute the manufactured product. 

Gault Manufacturing Company 

The Gault Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1913, 
and has a capital stock of $25,000. Mr. J. H. Gault is president. 
The only product of this mill is hosiery; therefore, it has no 
spindles. 


40 Union County : Economic and Social 

Cotton Seed Oil Mills ^ 

Union County has two oil mills, with a capital stock of $90,000, 
an annual output of $192,582, and employees numbering 34 on a 
yearly payroll of $13,260. The Southern Cotton Oil Company 
owns and operates both of these mills, one of which is situated 
at Jonesville and the other in Union. 

Lockhart Power Company 

The Lockhart Power Company was incorporated under the laws 
of South Carolina and has a capitalization of $300,000. The plant 
is developed for 15,000 horse power and is complete. Under the 
present scheme there is no provision for future development. The 
plant has a 33,000 volt transmission line from the plant to Union 
and Jonesville, and this is being extended. At the present time 
this plant is supplying current to the town of Union, the town of 
Jonesville, Monarch Mills and Ottaray Mills of Union, and 
power for Wallace Mills at Jonesville. Plans are being made to 
supply Pacolet Manufacturing Company with power and also to 
run the mills at Lockhart. This is a new addition to the industries 
of Union County, and prospects are bright for this plant to be 
recognized as one of the largest in the State. 

Bake-Rite Bakery Company 

Union can boast of one of the most up-to-date bakeries in the 
State. The Bake-Rite Bakery Company has recently been incor¬ 
porated under the laws of South Carolina with a capital stock of 
$5,000. Mr. M. C. Deaver of Carlisle is president of the concern. 
The company has installed the most modern and up-to-date equip¬ 
ment. They do a large wholesale and retail bakery business and 
this promises to be a big concern for Union County. 

Union Manufacturing and Power Company 

The Union Manufacturing and Power Company is a subsidiary 
of the Union-Buffalo Mills Company. Mr. H. C. Fleitman is pres¬ 
ident, and Mr. A. B. Jennings is vice-president. The Union Man¬ 
ufacturing and Power Company has a plant situated at Neal’s 
Shoals on Broad River. The plant has a capacity of four genera¬ 
tors of 1,350 k. w. each, and furnishes power for the mills at Union 
and Buffalo. 

Union Lumber Company 

Union is proud to boast of two lumber companies, both pf which 
do a considerable volume of business. 


Lockhart Power Plant 



































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.Vfl" J); 4 |||f''.>]i.'' -, 




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■■ Ji?'. ■, 'Lv^ l: 


Union County : Economic and Social 


41 


The Union Lumber Company is incorporated under the laws of 
South Carolina with a capital stock of $5,000. Mr. James D. 
Smith is president of this concern. The company sells lumber and 
building material and carries on a general lumber business. 

Bailey Builders’ Supply Company 

Bailey Builders’ Supply Company was organized in 1884 by Mr. 
T. E. Bailey, who is president. It was incorporated in 1901 under 
its present name, with T, E. Bailey as president, and R. L. Mc¬ 
Nally as treasurer. This concern carries on a wholesale and retail 
lumber business, handling all kinds of building material. 

Carolina Remedies Company 

The Carolina Remedies Company, incorporated under the laws 
of South Carolina in December, 1920, has an authorized capital of 
$250,000. Dr. Joseph M. Buchanan is president, Hon. J. Gordon 
Hughes is vice-president, and F. J. Parham is secretary and treas¬ 
urer. The corporation is backed by some of the strongest men 
of the State and has a bright prospect as an industrial enterprise. 

The company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of reme¬ 
dies, under the trade mark of Caro Vet, for the treatment of various 
diseases and conditions of horses, mules, cattle, swine, dogs and 
poultry. 

The Carolina Remedies Company owns one of the best build¬ 
ings in the city of Union and according to good authority is one 
of the leading plants of its type in the South. The building is of 
reinforced concrete construction, with foundations providing for 
four additional stories. All manufacturing equipment is porcelain 
or glass-enameled lined so as to insure absolute cleanliness. This 
manufacturing equipment was a special design built by the J. H. 
Day Company and the XJnited States Bottlers’ Machinery Com¬ 
pany, and is modern in every respect. 

This concern has a distribution covering three states, and with 
increased production and better facilities they hope to supply the 
entire South. This is a wide-awake enterprise and will do much 
for the upbuilding of Union County. 

Other Industries 

In a brief treatise like this it would be impossible to gfve a de¬ 
tailed account of the organization, growth, and present importance 
of each of our factories. One short paragraph devoted to each 
would make a story entirely too long to be included in this bulle- 


42 Union County : Economic and Social 

tin. However, the reader will find at the close of this chapter aa 
account of our industries in tabulated form, which shows the most 
important facts about our cotton mills, knitting mills, bakeries, 
power plants, and other miscellaneous concerns. Taken accord¬ 
ing to amount of capital invested, value of annual product, and 
number of wage earners, the cotton mills rank first, with power 
plants second. 

For the development of industries there are four things abso¬ 
lutely necessary. They are sufficient capital, available raw pro¬ 
ducts, efficient workers and ample transportation facilities. Un¬ 
fortunately, Union is not yet blessed with all of these in the fullest 
measure, but has shown a decided advance in many of these essen¬ 
tials to industrial progress. 

The great need of Union County is for some of its far-seeing 
and wide-awake citizens to come to a realization of these facts 
and to give an impetus to industrial activities. The fact that a 
large number of people possessing sufficient capital to finance in¬ 
dustries, have been afraid to risk their money, accounts for the 
fact that Union County has only recently developed its industries. 
What we need then is the capital and the labor, accompanied with 
better transportation facilities, to further stimulate the industrial 
development of our county. Union in its future progress seems 
destined to become more and more a manufacturing county. 


Union County Textile Establishments in 1921 


Name and Location of Plant. Spindles. 

Union: 

Union-Buffalo Mills Co., (Union plant)-.. 89,920 

Union-Buffalo Mills Co., (Buffalo plant)’ --i... 62,880 

Monarch Mills, (Monarch plant) - 78,528 

Victor-Monaghan Mills, (Ottaray plant) - 25,116 

Excelsior Knitting Mills ---- 5,616 

Lockhart: 

Monarch Mills, (Lockhart plant) - 57,184 

Jonesville: 

Victor-Monaghan Mills, (Wallace plant)--- 15,584 


Total number of spindles for county....-... 334,826 












Union County : Economic and Social 


43 


Summary of all Industries in Union County Compiled from 1921 
Report of State Commissioner of Agriculture, Commerce 
and Industries 


Industry. 

Capital Invested. 

Value of 

Annual Products. 

Number of 

People Employed. 

Wages. 

Electricify 

Foundries and machine 

$1,469,000 

$199,039 

22 

$18,803 

shops _ _ 

65,000 

* 11,000 

11 

5,000 

Flour and grist 

500 

500 

4 

Ice 

Lumber and timber pro¬ 

49,000 

40,560 

17 

6,767 

ducts . 

2,500 

50,000 

9 

1,200 

Minerals and soda . 

29,500 

82,625 

11 

10,512 

Patent medicines... 

15,000 

1,200 

4 

2,500 

Printing & publishing 

25,000 

42,069 

9 

10,680 

Oil mills ... 

90,000 

192,582 

34 

13,620 

Textiles . . 

11,623,311 

8,109,634 

3,456 

2,073,512 

Total . 

$13,368,811 

$8,629,209 

3,567 

$2,143,494 
























V. 


FACTS ABOUT THE FOLKS 


Charles M. Gee, 


Population 

Union County with a total population of 30,372 in 1920 ranks 
twenty-second among the counties of the State in this respect. 
The United States Census of 1920 shows that the increase in pop¬ 
ulation since 1910 is 461 in actual numbers or an increase of 1.5 
per cent. Union County ranks thirty-fourth in the rate of in¬ 
crease of the total population within the period from 1910-1920, 
and as a study of the facts will show, had the lowest actual in¬ 
crease, the other counties below it in the scale showing a decrease. 

Rural and Urban 

The total population of 30,372 in 1920 was composed of rural 
and urban population in the following proportions; 24,231, or 
79.8 per cent rural, and 6,141, or 20.2 per cent urban. " This ratio 
of urban to rural population in Union County is not extreme in 
either direction, the average for the whole State being 82.5 per 
cent rural and 17.5 per cent urban population. 

However, a study of the figures will reveal the fact that there 
has been an actual decrease of 0.2 per cent in the rural population 
within the last decade, and this decrease, although very small, 
yet, substantiates the view that there is a tendency among the 
rural population to drift towards the urban centers. This state 
of affairs is in decided contrast to that which existed ten years 
ago, when the Census showed that there was an increase of 20.8 
per cent in the rural population since 1900. Leaving the rural and 
going to a study of the urban population, we find that there has 
been an increase of 9.2 per cent since 1910 in this element of the 
population and since Union City is the only urban center taken into 
consideration by the census reports, we may say that the increase 
in urban population has all taken place in Union City itself. How¬ 
ever, in this connection it may be interesting to note that with 
the possible exception of Kelton, all of the other towns have in¬ 
creased in population within the last ten years. The country is 
the custodian of the basic institutions of our civilization and from 




Union County: Economic and Social .45 

it the city is constantly replenished in population. Altogether 
too frequently the more enterprising and thrifty leave the coun¬ 
try, and thus the cities are built up at the cost of the country. 

Density 

Union County with an area of 492 square miles or 315,480 acres 
ranks 37th in size. And with a density for the total population 
of 61.7 persons per square mile in 1920, it ranks 14th among the 
other counties of the State in this respect. The density of the 
rural population alone, according to the 1920 Census was 49.3 
persons per square mile, ranking Union County 18th in this par¬ 
ticular. 


Color and Nativity 

Of the 30,372 persons in Union County in 1920 the native white 
element was the most prominent, comprising 16,243 of the popu¬ 
lation in actual numbers or 53.4 per cent. The next largest ele¬ 
ment was the negro population which comprised 14,076 of the 
population, or 46.3 per cent. The remainder was comprised of 
44 foreign-born whites and 9 Indians, Chinese, Japanese and all 
others. 

These figures on color and nativity are very interesting and 
show a decided change from the figures of 1910 which indicated 
that the negro population was the largest elernent in the county, 
comprising at that time 51.7 per cent of the total population, 
whereas, now the native born whites compose the predominating 
element of the population. This increase in the proportion of the 
white element is quite a favorable change and is in a decided con¬ 
trast to the situation in 1910, when the negro element was pre¬ 
dominant. Of the forty-six counties of the State, Union County 
ranked eleventh in the percentage of the white population to the 
total population in 1920. 


• Illiteracy 

The Fourteenth Census of 1920 shows for Union County a total 
figure for persons ten years of age and over of 21,877. Of this 
total, 3,782, or 17.3 per cent, are illiterates, which ranks Union 
County 14th in this particular. 

These figures are a considerable improvement over those for 
1910 which show a higher percentage of illiteracy, the figure at 
that time being 26.6 per cent. Classifying these illiterates we 
find that the negro element comprises the greater part of them, 
the percentage being 74.9. The native born whites compose 23.4 
per cent of the total number of illiterates; the remaining 0.8 per 


46 


Union County : Economic and Social 


cent being taken up by the foreign-born whites and other nation¬ 
alities. The percentage of the native white voters In Union 
County that are illiterate is 10.8, ranking the county 37th among 
the counties of the State. 

Taking now the percentages of the different classes of popula¬ 
tion that are illiterate we find that of the 11,873 native born whites 
over ten years of age in Union County in 1920, 970 or 8.2 per cent 
are illiterate. While of the total population of negroes over ten 
years of age in Union County, which is 9,953, we find that 2,807, or 
28.2 per cent, are illiterate. This problem of illiteracy is a grave 
one, since from the figures quoted above we find that ten out of 
every hundred of our voters cannot read their own ballots or sign 
their own names. The seriousness of the problem is still more viv¬ 
idly impressed upon us when we know that South Carolina stands 
above only one other state in the percentage of illiteracy among 
the population, that state being Louisiana. This situation, how¬ 
ever, fortunately received the attention of the State authorities, 
who through the State Illiteracy Commission have made rapid 
strides towards improving the situation. They have established 
night schools and adult schools over the State for the benefit of 
those illiterates who work during the day. More than this, several 
of the mills have employed full-time teachers to conduct special 
classes for the mill employees at times which suit their conveni¬ 
ence. As a result of these efforts South Carolina has been re¬ 
warded by being the State with the highest percent in the reduc¬ 
tion of illiteracy during the past decade. 

Birth and Death Rates 

The latest available statistics for birth and death rates at this 
writing are for the year 1919. These figures show that there were 
704 births in the county in 1919, making the birth rate per thous¬ 
and 21.2. This birth rate ranks Union County 42nd among the 
other counties, and puts it below the State average of 27.1 births 
per thousand of population. The figures for death rates rank 
Union County 44th in this particular with an actual number of 
314 deaths. This figure gives Union County a death rate per 
thousand of 9.5 persons, which is below the State average of 13.6 
per thousand. These statistics show very favorably that the birth 
rate per thousand in Union County is over twice the death rate 
although neither the birth rate nor the death rate is very high, 
ranking the county forty-second and forty-fourth respectively in 
these particulars. 


Union County : Economic and Social 47 

Church Membership 

The figures giyen below are taken from the United States Cen¬ 
sus of Religious Bodies published in 1916 and are the latest avail¬ 
able statistics upon this subject. According to these reports 36 
out of every hundred persons in the county are non-church mem¬ 
bers, or, conversely speaking, in Union County 13,264 of the popu¬ 
lation ten years of age and over are church members, giving the 
county a rank of 34th in this respect. 

Taking the entire population into consideration, we find that 
44 per cent are church members and the denominational affilia¬ 
tions of these members ‘ are as follows: Methodists, 4,513, of 
which 2,331 are whites and 2,182 negroes; Baptists, 7,856, of which 
4,264 are whites and 3,592 negroes; Presbyterians, 493, of, which 
number 478 are whites, and 15 negroes; Protestant Episcopal 
Church, 50; and all others 352. 

Mill Population 

From the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, Com¬ 
merce and Industries of the State of South Carolina for the year 
ending December 31, 1921, we find some very interesting data. 

The population in the mill villages of Union County Cvomprise 
29.4 per cent of the total population of the county, the actual 
number being 8,950. The actual number of persons employed 
is 3,456, leaving a balance of about 5,500 persons not employed in 
any gainful occupation.' This number is largely composed of the 
children under fourteen years of age and the wives of the mill 
employees. These facts are representative of the problems which 
arise from them, namely the educational and recreational facili¬ 
ties for the children in these communities. 

In 1921 Union County ranked 7th in the value of annual output 
of textiles. And of the four mills in the State that were accred¬ 
ited with high schools of their own in 1920, the Lockhart Mills 
in Union County were one of the four. This alone shows that 
the mills of our county are not backward. 

Another fact that will bear this out is that every cotton mill 
in Union County with one exception has made marked improve¬ 
ments in quarters for employees, sewerage systems, installation 
of modern conveniences (baths, running water, electricity), top¬ 
soiling mill roads and the building of new cottages to relieve or 
prevent congestion. Besides several of the mills have built play¬ 
grounds for the recreation and amusement of the younger mill 
element. The mills arc also pretty well off financially, ranking 


48 


Union County: Economic and Social 


5th in the State in the total amount of capital invested in plants. 
With these facts before us, we can hardly help noticing the con¬ 
ditions under which these people are living and the facilities 
which ought to be available for them along educational, religious 
and recreational lines. The living conditions and facilities which 
are open to the mill population of this county seem, however, to 
compare favorably with those of other counties and as it is nec¬ 
essary to have a favorable environment to produce the right sort 
of people, these surroundings should.be made as sanitary, pleas¬ 
ant and morally uplifting as possible. 


Fact and Figures About Union County People 
(Derived largely from the 1920 Census.) 


37th—In size in South Carolina with an area in acres...... 315,480 

22nd—In total population, 1920 ...... 30,372 

Charleston leads with 108,450; Jasper is last with 
9,868. 

18th—In the density of rural population per square mile 49.3 

14th—In the population per square mile _:_:_ 61.7 

Spartanburg leads with 123.2; Jasper last with 16.6. 

11th—In decrease of negro population, per cent_ 9 

Barnwell leads with 36.8 per cent; Lancaster is 
last with 0.4 per cent. 

28th—In the increase in white population, per cent.. 12.8 

Florence leads with 66.2 per cent; Saluda last 
with 7.2 per cent. 

11th—In the percentage of negroes to the total popu¬ 
lation ______ 46.3 

Pickens leads with 17.4 per cent; Beaufort last 
with 78.4 per cent. 

34th—In the percentage church members «are of the 

total population ten years and over_ 64 

Barnwell leads; Colleton last with 54 per cent. 

The State average is 74 per cent. 

14th—In total illiteracy ____ 17.3 

Berkeley leads with 38.4 per cent; Pickens is last 
with 10 per cent. The State average is 18.1 per 
cent. 

37th—In per cent native white illiterates'.?__ 8.2 

Charleston leads with 1.5 per cent; Chesterfield 


is last with 13.3 per cent. 








Union County: Economic and Social 


49 


37th—In percentage native white illiterate voters (male) 10.8 

Charleston leads with 1.7 per cent; Chesterfield is 
last with 17.3 per cent, 

38th—In the percentage native white illiterate voters 

(female) _____... 11 

Calhoun leads with 1.7 per cent; Chesterfield last 
with 18 per cent. 

42nd—In death rate per 1,000 population, 1921... 8.8 

State average for 1921 was 11.9 per 1,000 popula¬ 
tion. 

29th—In the birth rate per 1,000 population, 1921. 26.5 

State average for 1921 was 29.4 per 1,000 popula¬ 
tion. 

6th—In homicides per 100,000 population, 1920 . 3.3 


Total number of homicides for Union County was 
1; total number for State was 259; State average 
per 100,000 population was 15.2. 







VI, 

WEALTH AND TAXATION 


Chas. M. Gee., . 

R. M, Hope, : ■ " 




In theory the State Constitution requires that all taxation upom 
property, real and personal, shall be laid upon the actual value of 
the property taxed, as the same shall be ascertained by an assess¬ 
ment made for the purpose of laying such a tax.-' In practice, 
however, the tax procedure of our State requires that all property be 
returned for taxation on the basis of 42 per cent of the actual value. 
It is our purpose to present a comparison on this basis of the 
figures for 1921 and 1910. 

The Comptroller General’s report for 1921 showed $9,999,430 
returned in Union County for taxation. Of this amount $2,973,630 
was real property and $7,025,800 was personal property. Taking 
these values as 42 per cent of the real values we find that the 
actual value of all property returned for taxation in 1921 was 
$23,808,100. The per capita wealth on the basis of this figure is 
$783.88. According to the above calculated figures, personal prop¬ 
erty comprised 70.2 per cent of the total property returned for 
taxation, while real property composed only 29,8 per cent. 

Let us now glance at the figures for 1910. The total taxable 
property returned for 1910, as is revealed by the Auditor’s books, 
was valued at $6,894,823 of which $3,948,331 was personal prop¬ 
erty and $2,178,000 was real property. Taking these values again 
as 42 per cent of the real value, we find that the actual value of 
all taxable property in 1910 was $16,416,200 of which personal 
property comprised 57.2 per cent and real property 42.8 per cent. 
Based on these figures the per capita wealth of the county for 
1910 was $540.50. 

Glancing at these figures we find that there was an increase in 
the total taxable property of $7,391,900 from 1910 to 1921. Within 
this same period, personal property alone increased 80.4 per cent; 
while there was also an increase of $243.38 in per capita wealth. 

An Agricultural County 

Union County, with a total farm wealth of $11,889,498, ranks 
36th in the State in this particular. Union is yet an agricultural 




Union County : Economic and Social 


51 


county. Our farm wealth has increased enormously since 1910, 
jumping from $4,862,805 to $11,889,498 in 1920. This increase in 
farm wealth ranks Union 18th in the percentage of increase in 
the last decade—the actual percentage being 144.5. The State 
average for the increase in farm wealth is 143 per cent or 1.5 per 
cent below that of Union. This increase is a very desirable factor 
and is indicative of the fact that Union County and its farmers 
are “there with the goods,” especially when We note that there 
are 36 other counties larger than Union. 

Automobiles 

Union County with one automobile to every 23.9 inhabitants 
ranks 32nd in this particular. Greenville County leads with a 
ratio of one to every 11.8 inhabitants, while Berkeley ranks last 
with one automobile to every 60.3 inhabitants. 

Assuming $1,100 to be the average price of a car, Union County 
has $1,399,200 invested in her 1,272 automobiles and trucks. The 
amount of gas consumed during the year was 518,976 gallons. 
This figure is based on the eighth of a cent a gallon tax on gaso¬ 
line and averaging the number of gallons used a year per car as 
408. Rating the average number of miles per gallon as 13, the 
mileage attained on the 518,976 gallons of gas was 6,746,688 miles. 
The cost of this gas consumed, fixing the average price at 25 
cents a gallon, would amount to $129,744 for the year. 

Another fact that may interest us, is the total cost of operation 
of these cars within the period of one year. Taking 10 cents a 
mile as the operation cost, including tires, depreciation, gas and 
oil, we find that the cost of operation of the county’s cars for the 
period of one year amounts to $674,669 annually. 

Banks in Union County 

In December of 1923, we had ten banks in Union County, one 
national and nine state banks, with total resources of $4,396,758.19. 
In 1919, we had six banks, two national and four state banks, with 
total resources of $3,163,307.50. Back in the year 1914 we had 
the same number of banks, both national and state, with total 
banking resources of $1,523,728.31. From these figures we would 
note an increase of 109.3 per cent in our banking resources from 
1914 to 1919. However, from 1919 to 1923 we have an increase 
of 39.3 per cent. 

The years 1914, 1919 and 1923 were chosen to indicate the growth 
and expansion of banking in our county for the reason that the 
figures for 1914 will indicate pre-war conditions, those of 1919 


52 


Union County : Economic and Social 


post-war conditions, and figures for 1923 the increase as a result 
of the establishment of more banks. 

Comparing loans and discounts for these periods, the figure for 
1914 is $1,269,413.66; that for 1919, $2,224,386.05; and the figure 
for 1923 is $3,323,979.38. From these figures we note an increase 
of $954,972.39 from 1914 to 1919, and from 1919 to 1923 an increase 
of $1,099,565.72. 

The increase in capital stock from 1914 to 1919 was not so 
marked but from 1919 to 1923 the capital stock increased enor¬ 
mously. This increase, however, is accounted for by the fact that 
during this period there were five new banks chartered in Union 
County and a consolidation of two. The figures, for 1914 are 
$295,000; those for 1919 are $355,000; and for 1923, $725,000. In 
other words, the total capital stock in all of the banks of Union 
County increased from $355,000 in 1919 to $725,000 in 1923, an in¬ 
crease of $370,000. 

It is gratifying to note such advance in the wealth increase of 
the banks of the county, and more especially in the number of 
new banks which have recently been chartered. With such an 
increase, good banking facilities are in easy reach of every individ¬ 
ual in the county. The attention of the reader is called to the 
fact that these rapid strides were made during the great world 
conflict and in the period of reconstruction immediately following. 

Roads 

The State Highway Commission expended in Union County in 
1921 for maintenance, signs and equipment the sum of $2,292.37. 
In Union County the number of miles under maintenance was 
51.5 in 1921 and according to the report of the State Highway 
Commission were in “fair” condition. 

The expenditure for maintenance by the county, was $2,678.41 
or an average cost of upkeep of $78 per mile. County road con¬ 
struction, independent of State or Federal aid, during 1921 resulted 
in the construction of seven miles of top-soiled road. During the 
year two bridges were completed. The Union-Chester bridge 
across Broad River is a 700 foot, concrete and steel bridge, con¬ 
structed at a cost of $76,407.78. The other was the Union-Kelly’s 
Station bridge, 99 feet in length and constructed of creosote tim¬ 
ber at a cost of $5,347.90. The number of miles of road con¬ 
structed in Union County during 1921 was 14.44, none of which 
was hard surface roads. The number of miles constructed prior 
to 1921 was 44.40, making the total mileage constructed to Jan¬ 
uary 1st, 1922, 58.84 miles of road. 

At the present time there are 800 miles of public roads in Union 


Union County : Economic and Social 


53 


County. Of this total mileage there are 160 miles of improved 
road. The expense of improving and keeping up these roads are 
borne by township bond issues, except in the case of improve¬ 
ment of state highways when the expense is borne by the State. 
For the year 1921 approximately $600,000 was expended on road 
improvement by the county. 

Good roads mean better schools, better towns and cities and 
better social conditions. In fact, the benefits of good roads are 
so evident that it is hardly necessary to argue for them. One of 
the benefits of good roads is the decrease in the expense of trans¬ 
portation or hauling of farm products. Figures, compiled by the 
United States Agricultural Department show that in South Caro¬ 
lina, by improving the roads, the decrease in the cost of the haul¬ 
ing of cotton alone, not to mention the many other uses to which 
they would be put, would be sufficient to pay the interest on a 
bond issue large enough to improve the roads over which the 
hauling was to be done. 

What the farmer wants and needs is a good road to his nearest 
market and the tendency of the last few years, emanating from 
our large cities, is in exactly the opposite direction. In other 
words our road improvement enthusiasts have outlined a city road 
building program, hence it is little wonder that the farmer is not 
prostrated with joy over the scheme, for the average farmer is 
more interested in getting a load of hogs or corn to market and 
in occasionally taking his family to an attraction in the nearest 
town than he is in unrestrained joy-riding. 

The trend of government policies in the past has been to neg¬ 
lect agriculture and foster and favor manufacturing and commer¬ 
cial industries. Yet, agriculture is the very basis of national 
wealth. When crops fail the wheels of commerce stand still, in¬ 
dustry is paralyzed and prosperity perishes as is illustrated by 
the present day crisis due to the failure of the cotton crop in the 
South. 


Tenancy and Farm Mortgages 

The total number of farms in Union County in 1910 was 3,054. 
Of this number 145, or 4.7 per cent were mortgaged. The total 
value of all the farms that were mortgaged for 1910 was $305,530. 
The amount of the mortgage on these farms was $88,203, or 28.9 
per cent of the total value of the farms. 

The white farmers of the county owned 2,903 of these farms. 
There were 110, or 3.8 per cent of them under mortgage. There 
were eight other counties in the State that had fewer white farm 
mortgages than Union County. 


54 Union County : Economic and Social 

According to the 1920 Census, there were 2,817 farms in Union 
County, 143 or 5 per cent of which were mortgaged. The num¬ 
ber of farms reporting the detailed valuation of land and build¬ 
ings and mortgage debt was 127. The average value per farm for 
land and buildings computed from these reports was $8,095, and 
the average mortgage debt per farm was found to be $2,123. From 
these figures we see that there has been a slight increase in the 
percentage of farms under mortgage, increasing from 4.7 per cent 
to 5 per cent. However, the total mortgage debt has increased 
enormously. 

A mortgage is not necessarily a bad thing. When used for 
making improvements a mortgage may be made with profit. But 
if a mortgage is given for the purpose of buying luxuries, such 
as automobiles for pleasure riding, there is nothing to be gained 
in making one. 

Approximately seventy-five per cent of our farms are cultivated 
by tenants. During the decade from 1910 to 1920, tenancy in 
Union County decreased .5 per cent. However, an increase is 
noted in South Carolina and the United States generally. The 
number of native white tenants in Union County, as given by 
the 1920 agricultural census, was 572, .while the number of 
negro tenants was almost three times as great, being 1,566. 
The counties in which tenancy is smallest are led by Beau¬ 
fort with 14.9 per cent and Georgetown and Berkeley with 
23.8 per cent and 24.2 per cent, respectively. Tenancy, like 
mortgage debts, as a means to ultimate ownership , is not 
to be looked upon as a harmful tendency. But if a tenant 
uses rented land merely as a means of scant livelihood, year after 
year, with no thought of saving his profits for the purpose of pur¬ 
chasing land on which to live, he becomes a liability rather than 
an asset to the community and county. Farm ownership causes 
thrift, pride and independence; tenancy encourages laziness, in¬ 
difference and dependence. There is only one remedy for the 
tenancy situation—a strict enforcement of the compulsory school 
attendance law and a good public school system. The final solu¬ 
tion, must of course be, farm ownership, wherever possible, for 
whites who are now tenant farmers. 

Taxation 

Union County with her total wealth in 1920 of $23,290,000 ranked 
seventeenth among the counties of the State in that respect. 
Twenty-seven counties had a higher tax rate than Union County. 
Our rate, state and county, was $2.80 per"$100 assessed valuation 
of property. The average levy for the county, not including the 


Union County : Economic and Social 


55 


principal town districts was 38.33 mills. In the general levy, State, 
county and school. Union County in 1920 ranked 17th with 28 
mills, while the average for the State was 29.25 mills. 

The present tax system, and no other, is authorized by the 
Constitution of 1895, and though only 25 years old, has proven 
itself inadequate to provide for a fast growing society. The law 
requires that all property, real, personal and possessory, be listed 
and returned, assessed and taxed, at its actual or true value in 
money. That this provision is in practice a dead letter is so well 
recognized by everybody in the State that the State Tax Com¬ 
mission in 1915 found it necessary to recognize this fact officially 
and openly to proceed with the equalization of assessments on a 
42 per cent basis. 

Of course, taxation is a State wide problem and its solution will 
be state wide and not confined to any one county, but it will be 
interesting to mention some of the conditions that have arisen 
in our county by reason of the general property tax. For instance 
in 1920, the United States census value per acre of land in Union 
County was $31.48. The assessed tax value per acre for the same 
year was $5.00, giving us a percentage of 15.9 that assessed value 
of land per acre is to the census value. This is perfectly absurd, 
that the assessed value of an acre of land in Union County in 
1920, was couched in the grand sum of $5.00, when land all around 
us is being sold for from $75 to $150 per acre. From a report 
made by a Special Committee appointed in 1920 by the General 
Assembly of South Carolina to make a thorough study of the tax 
situation in the State, and to make recommendations for a solu¬ 
tion thereof, we find that out of 640 tracts sold in South Carolina 
between July, 1917, and February, 1918, the assessed value for 
taxation was less than one-third of the considerations actually 
paid therefor. In addition to this, most of the personal prop¬ 
erty, both tangible and intangible, which constitutes a large part 
of our wealth and from which a large part of our taxes should 
be derived, does not find its place upon our tax books. The 
Special Committee mentioned above, after studying the tax con¬ 
ditions in the State from every angle came to the conclusion “that 
there can be no sound, sane, thorough-going reform of the tax¬ 
ing system of South Carolina until the constitutional restrictions 
upon the power of the General Assembly in relation to the gen¬ 
eral property tax are removed. Any improvement in the method 
of assessment or in administrative machinery is mere tinkering. 
The institution of other methods of raising revenues might result 
in some temporary relief from the present strain upon the timbers 
of a tottering structure. All such devices are but props to keep 


56 


Union County : Economic and Social 


the house from falling when the foundation has rotted away. 
The only sensible course is to rebuild the foundation.” 

In 1922, the Legislature took steps to remedy the tax situation. 
Such measures as the income, inheritance, and gasoline tax, are 
steps in the right direction. It is not just to put the burden of 
taxation entirely on the back of the owner of tangible property. 
Until 1922 the tangible property owners of South Carolina paid 90 
per cent of the taxes. The average for the country is 65 per cent. 
There is no reason why the man with a good income, but without 
property should not pay his share. The good work has been 
started and should be carried on. Let us get away from a system 
of taxation, the working of which has been described by the 
Special Committee as being “as much an outlaw business as the 
gentle art of cracking safes or of distilling moonshine whiskey.” 


Facts About Wealth and Taxation in Union County 

36th—In total farm wealth_$11,889,498 

Anderson County ranks first, $61,635,823; Jasper 
County last with $4,255,029. Total value for the 
State, $953,064,742. 

18th—In percentage increase in farm wealth, 1910-1920 144.5 

Georgetown first, with 244.5 per cent increase; 

Barnwell last, with 24.7 per cent. Average for the 
State is 143 per cent. 

38th—In per capita country wealth_$490.67 

Marlboro first, with $1,129.63; Charleston last, 
with $289.57. 

7th—In percentage that assessed value of land is to the 

census value _______ 15.9 

Jasper County ranks first, with 22.9 per cent, with 
census value at $17.45 and assessed value $3.99; 

Clarendon last, with 7.2 per cent, with census value 
at $58.81 and assessed value at $4.22. 

17th—In total taxable property, 1920 ___$23,290,500 

Charleston first, with $89,464,800; Allendale last, 
with $7,802,500. 

28th—In increase in taxable property, 1910-1920_ 

Florence ranks first with 123.72 per cent increase; 

Barnwell last, with a loss of 27.7 per cent. Aver¬ 
age for the State is 60.22 per cent. 

6th—In per capita taxable wealth, 1920_ 

Richland ranks first, with $891; Horry last with 
$354. 


41.87 

$766 











Union County : Economic and Social 


57 

16th—In average property tax rate, 1920 (mills)_ 38.33 

Dillon ranks first, with 49.25; Fairfield last with 
28. Average for the State 37.6 mills. 

7th—In percentage that mortgaged farms are of total 

number of farms, 1920 _ 5 

Total number of farms, 2,817: Oconee ranks last, 
with 14.7 per cent. Marlboro first, with 2.6 per 
cent. 

28th—In total number of autos and trucks_:_ 1,330 

Greenville is first with 6,726; Jasper is last with 
228. Total number for State, 93,843. 

32nd—In number of inhabitants per automobile, 1920- 22.8 

Marlboro ranked first with 12.3; Berkeley last 
with 59.8. Average for the State, one automobile 
for every 18 inhabitants. 

18th—In number of inhabitants per bank -- 3,375 

Hampton is first with 2,172; Jasper last with 
9,868. State average, 3,644. 

21st—In per capita banking resources, 1919—.- — $138 

Richland leads with $453; Berkeley is last, with 
$7. For the State, $149.26. 

19th^—In total banking resources-.—---- $4,193,870 

Charleston first, with $48,792,245; Berkeley last 
with $151,628. 

36th—In savings per capita--- $3 

Charleston first, with $115; Chesterfield ranks last. 

20th—In per capita loans and discounts- $S8 

Richland ranks first, with $232; Berkeley last 

, with $5. 

18th—In percentage increase in per capita total bank¬ 
ing resources, 1914-1919 ......—. 

Saluda first, with 469 per cent; Berkeley last, 
with 75 per cent. 











VII. 


SCHOOLS 


R. M. Hope. 


Union County with her 30,372 inhabitants, in 1920, had a total 
taxable wealth of $23,290,500, or a per capita wealth of $766. 
There are only five counties in the State which make a better 
showing-. During 1920, we spent $758,100 in operating our auto¬ 
mobiles, or an average expenditure of $24.95 for every person in 
the county, regardless of whether he owned a car or not. Dur¬ 
ing the same period, each of us spent only $3.60 for the education 
of our children. These are facts which we must face, and we 
hope that the mission of this chapter will be fulfilled by arousing 
the people of Union County to their duty regarding the education 
of the youth of our county. 


Attendance 

The enrollment in the schools of Union County, from 1910 to 
1920,shows an increase of 2,336 or approximately 31 per cent, 
while the average daily attendance for the same period shows an 
increase of 825 or 15.2 per cent. During 1910, 72.4 per cent of the 
total enrollment were in regular attendance; while, in 1920, only 
63.6 per cent were in regular attendance. These figures indicate 
that the increase in average attendance has failed to keep pace 
with the increase in enrollment. During the school year 1919- 
1920, there were enrolled in the schools of Union County 9,827 
children of school age. Of this number, an average of 6,249, or 
63.60 per cent, were in daily attendance; or, 36.40 per cent were 
absent every day of school. In Union County during the schol¬ 
astic year 1919-1920, we expended a total of $109,389.99 for edu¬ 
cational purposes in the county. During the same period, 36.40 
per cent of the children on whom this sum was expended were 
habitually absent. Therefore, it follows that, for the year, 36.4 
per cent, or $40,817,951 of this money, was wasted so far as edu¬ 
cational purposes were concerned. 

The people of the county should awake to the fact that it is an 
economic as well as a social obligation on their part to see that 
the pupils enrolled in school should have a regular attendance. 




Union County : Economic and Social 


59 


The showing made in attendance, coming as it does, after the 
enactment of a compulsory education law, clearly indicates that 
the law as administered is not working, and, therefore, cannot 
produce the desired results. What is the solution of this prob¬ 
lem? The people of our county must cooperate in enforcing this 
law, and until this is done our County and our State will rest as 
they do upon one of the bottom rounds of the educational effici¬ 
ency ladder. 


Teachers 

The teacher is the most important factor of any school system 
and yet in many cases is the most neglected. Of course, build¬ 
ings, supplies, and grounds are necessary constituents of a real 
up to date school system, but without the vitalizing touch of a 
teacher, all these constituents would be useless. In realizing this 
fact we must also recognize the comparatively low price paid for 
teachers. Cheap things never pay, but the loss is nowhere so 
great as in employing cheap teachers. There was a time when 
there were not so many demands upon a teacher, but that time 
has passed and now college graduates are especially in demand. 
Under the present salary schedule a young lady cannot save 
enough to attend summer schools. Is it any wonder that the 
most capable young people are not turning to teaching? 

Union County in 1920 paid white men teachers an average an¬ 
nual salary of $1,286.76 and her white women teachers an average 
annual salary of $576.55. The average annual salary for both sexes 
was $931.65, and for both races it was $563.53, although there were 
25 men teachers as compared with 177 women teachers. This aver¬ 
age is good when compared with some counties in the State, but 
is pitifully small when viewed in terms of service rendered. No 
county nor state can have a good school system without good 
teachers, and good teachers are going to gradually go where the 
best salaries are paid. Within the past few years, the county and 
State have lost some of their most efficient teachers because they 
could secure fifty to one hundred per cent more by leaving the 

Below are some of the average annual salaries paid m other 
professions. These figures are derived from the report of the 
labor division of the State Department of Agriculture, Commerce 
and Industries, for the year 1920. The cotton seed oil mill em¬ 
ployees received on an average $1,332.13. The men m the textile 
industry receive annually, on the average, $1,001.10, and the women 
$699.18. The electrical employees are paid $2,398.33 and manu- 


,60 


Union County : Economic and Social 


facturers of ice receive $1,408.50. The teacher to whom you en¬ 
trust your child should receive a salary in proportion to the dig¬ 
nity of his labor, and position in society, and yet the above figures 
show that they do not receive any more than a day laborer in 
other professions. These are the facts which the people of Union 
County face. What shall be the action of thinking people in this 
matter? 


Consolidation 

Better schools are not only a question of money, but also one 
of the wise expenditure of that money; and, as time goes on, 
close study reveals different methods and policies as to obtaining 
the greatest efficiency from the given amount of money and effort. 
In the beginning, with our scattered population and poor means 
of transportation, the idea of bringing the school to the pupil 
prevailed, but now with better roads and better transportation 
the pupil can be more easily brought to the school. 

The advantages of consolidated schools are as follows: They 
increase the attendance; make the attendance more regular; in¬ 
crease the enrollment; keep the older pupils in school longer; pro¬ 
vide high school privileges at one-third the cost; make possible 
the securing of trained teachers; make possible more and better 
grade work; improve industrial conditions in the country; enrich 
the civic-social life activities; conserve more largely the health 
and morals of the children; increase the number of eighth grade 
completions; provide adequate supervision; reduce truancy and 
tardiness; develop better school spirit; give more time for recita¬ 
tions; increase the value of real estate; produce greater pride and 
interest in country life; prevent the drift to larger towns and 
cities; bring more and better equipped buildings; eliminate the 
small weak school; create a school of greater worth, dignity and 
usefulness; make possible a more economical school; provide 
equal educational opportunities; give much greater and better re¬ 
sults in every way. 

Consolidation of schools is not a new idea; for it has been tried 
in different parts of the nation. Now this new school has come, 
and is extending its scope because many a thinking farmer has 
come to understand that the conditions under which his children 
are living and going to live demand a new kind of school. Con¬ 
solidation is part and parcel of our prosperity and progress, and 
is just as natural as the self-binder, telephone, automobile and 
the^like^ and for that reason is just as sure to come. 



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Rank of Union Coonfy's Schools, 
















Union County : Economic and Social 61 

Index Figures 

A comprehensive method of indicating school conditions and 
tendencies has been worked out by the Department of Education 
of the Russell Sage Foundation by means of the index number, 

Index Figures for Union County Schools: 1910 and 1920 



1910 Colored, 

1910 White. 

1920 Colored. 

1920 White. 

1910 White 

and Colored. 

1920 White 

and Colored. 

1. Per cent of school popu¬ 







lation attending school daily 

50.2 

49.9 

69.7 

85.2 

50.05 

77.45 

2. Average days attendance, 







each child of school age_ 

30.2 

37.3 

25.3 

53.2 

33.7 

39.2 

3. Average number of days 







schools were kept open_ 

37.5 

75 

37 

67.5 

56.2 

52.2 

4. Per cent that high school 







attendance was of total at- 







tendance^ 


17.8 

3.6 

12.5 


8.06 

5. Per cent that boys were 







of girls in high school*_ 


64.5 


50.8 



6. Average expenditure per 







child in average attendance- 

2.36 

11.32 

4.23 

27.21 

6.84 

15.72 

7. Average expenditure per 







child of school age_ 

1.34 

8.12 

3.02 

16.26 

4.73 

9.64 

8. Average expenditure per 







teacher employed 

3.72 

36.29 

8.09 

30.41 

20.15 

19.25 

9. Expenditure per pupil for 







purposes other than teach¬ 







ers’ salaries 

.10 

32.92 

.54 

7.36 

16.51 

3.95 

10. Expenditure per teacher 







employed for salaries 

7.19 

34.38 

16.18 

52.49 

20.78 

34.33 

Union County Index — 
State Index 

16.57 

36.78 

18.63 

40.29 

26.12 

24.87 

28.86 

29.39 


♦Figures for 1911. 






















62 


Union County : Economic and Social 


which is a well established statistical device commonly used for 
measuring changes in wholesale and retail prices and rates of 
wages over long periods of time, and which number lends itself 
readily in denoting changes, conditions and cost of education over 
a definite period of years. 

Montana has the distinct honor of having the best system of 
public schools in the United States, with California, Arizona, and 
New Jersey second, third and fourth respectively. South Caro¬ 
lina, however, has the disgrace of being at the bottom of the list 
in 1918 with an index number of 29.39. Montana, the leading 
State, has an index number of 75.70; or two and one-half times 
larger than ours. 

The index figures are compiled by taking the official data show¬ 
ing the percentage of the children of school age who attended 
school, the average number of days attended, the per cent that 
high school was of total attendance, the average annual expendi¬ 
ture per child, the amount expended for buildings, and supplies, 
the salaries paid to teachers, and other like items and combining 
these factors into a single index figure. 

By use of this method, we find that the index figure for the 
whites in Union County in 1920 was 40.29, as against 29.39 for the 
entire State. For both whites and negroes for the same year, the 
index figure was 28.86. When these figures are considered and 
compared with State figures, we find that Union County is far 
behind the average in the education of the negro. 

If the general average of the State were equal to that of Union 
County whites, South Carolina would rank 40th instead of 52nd 
in the list of states while a state average of 28.86 or the average 
of Union County white and negro schools, would bring South 
Carolina to a much lower level than she now holds. 

Negpro Schools 

The index figures for the negro schools in 1910 was 16.57, while 
in 1920 this figure was 18.63. There has been a slight improve¬ 
ment in the condition of negro schools in these ten years, but it 
has not been sufficient to bring Union County to the position 
which it should hold. 

Within the last few years the enrollment in negro schools has 
decreased. In 1917 their total enrollment was 5,209, but in 1920 
it had decreased to 4,806, a decrease of 403. However, for 1920 
the per cent of total enrollment in regular attendance was 66 per 
cent, or 4.7 per cent higher than the figure for the whites. Forty- 
eight schools were maintained for them that year in which 69 
teachers were employed. Forty of these schools were one-teacher 


Union County : Economic and Social 


63 


schools. The average length of sessions for negro schools was 
only 66 days and the per capita expenditure according to enroll¬ 
ment amounted to only $2.96. Union County must give the negro 
better educational advantages; for in so doing they would im¬ 
prove the condition of both whites and blacks. 

% 

How We Rank in Schools 

Rank: 192o 

42nd—In white percentage in regular attendance.. 61.30 

Georgetown leads with 80.89 per cent; Cherokee 

40th—In negro percentage in regular attendance_ 66 

Georgetown first with 87.44 per cent; Hampton 

last with 60.30. 

last with 61.31 per cent. 

42nd—In percentage in regular attendance* (both races) 63,60 

Georgetown first with 84.89 per cen^ Dillon last 
with 61.51 per cent. 

23rd—In percentage of white schools that are one- 

teacher schools _ 46.31 

Darlington leads with 10.34 per cent; Beaufort 
last with 76.47 per cent. Average for State is 43.22 
per cent. 

8th—In average length of session in town schools 

(white) in days _ 177 

Calhoun, Georgetown, Lancaster and Richland 
^ tied for first place with 180 days; Horry last with 
136 days. 

34th—In average length of session in county schools 

(white) in days _ 117 

Charleston leads with 159; Cherokee last with 90. 

38th—In per capita expenditure according to enrollment 

(white) _ $18.94 

Darlington leads with $72.67; Abbeville last with 
$16.69. 

17th—In per capita expenditure according to enrollment 

(negro) _ $2.96 

Charleston leads with $11.57; Bamberg last with 
$1.45. 

28th—In per capita expenditure according to enrollment 

(both races) _ $11.13 

12th—In average salary paid white teachers (men)- $1,286.76 

Charleston first with $2,317.62; Lexington last 
with $537.60. 


















64 


Union County: Economic and Social 


15th—In average salary paid white teachers (women)— $576.55 

9th—In per capita investment in school property.- $13.03 

Florence first with $29.07; Fairfield last with $2.77. 

12th—In total value of school property _ $395,907 

Greenville first with $2,568,374; Jasper last with 
$38,042. 

29th—In number of local tax districts_ 31 

28th—In number local tax districts levying special tax— 29 

33rd—In receipts from State appropriations (both races) $9,835 

Spartanburg leads with $49,511.38; Jasper last with 
$3,180. 

10th—In average number white pupils to school ac¬ 
cording to enrollment _ 94 

Charleston first with 159; Berkeley last with 31. 

8th—In average number of white pupils to school ac¬ 
cording to average attendance_ 62 

Charleston leads with 114; Jasper last with 21. 

39th—In average number of white pupils to teacher ac¬ 
cording to enrollment_ 37 

Beaufort, Berkeley and Jasper tied for first place 
with 231; Greenville last with 53. 

40th—In average number of white pupils to teacher ac¬ 
cording to average attendance _ 24 

Jasper and Williamsburg tied for first with 15; 

Greenville last with 31. 













VIII. 


AGRICULTURE 


Douglas Jeter. 
R. M. Hope. 


This chapter is an attempt to weigh the fundamental facts avail¬ 
able concerning the conditions and practices of the Union County 
farmer. It is to be hoped that the facts and figures herein stated 
will bring the thinking people to a clear realization of the agri¬ 
cultural problems facing our county. 

At the close of this chapter will be found statistics compiled from 
the 1920 Census, upon which the discussion in this chapter is based. 

Farms 

According to the 1920 Census, Union County had 2,817 farms, 
ranking thirty-eighth in this particular. In 1910 there were 3,054 
farms, showing a decrease of 237 farms from 1910 to 1920. From 
these figures it would be readily seen that the size of farms is 
increasing, while the number of farms decreased. The average 
size farm in Union County in 1920 was 89 acres. 

The United States Bureau of the Census directed the enumera¬ 
tors of the Census to tabulate under the heading of improved 
land, “all land regularly tilled or mowed, land pastured and 
cropped in rotation, land lying fallow, land in gardens, orchards, 
nurseries, and land occupied by buildings.” According to the 1920 
Census, based on this definition, the per cent of improved land in 
Union County was 44.7 per cent, being slightly less than the 
average of the State, which was 49.8 per cent. 

The product per agricultural worker in 1900 for the state of 
Iowa was $1,088; and in South Carolina $147.46. Thus we see that 
the Iowa farmer is able to produce, probably because of greater 
skill in the agricultural arts, seven times as much annual wealth 
as the farmer in South Carolina. In the year 1918, however. South 
Carolina produced on its 30,000 square miles of area more than 
eight times as much farm wealth as was produced in California 
on 158,000 square miles of area. This fact is encouraging, but that 
was an unusual year for cotton and it must not blind the people 




66 


Union County: Economic and Social 


to the need for greater production in South Carolina and more 
especially in Union County. 

Idle Lands and Improved Lands 

Union County’s land area is approximately 314,880 acres. Of 
this amount, 251,453 acres constituted land in farms. The im¬ 
proved land in farms for 1920 was 112,301 acres. This is only 44.7 
per cent of the total land in farms. 

If we assume that 50,000 acres of woodland is necessary for 
wood and fuel purposes in Union County, we will have left for 
occupancy 89,152 acres of land which is at present not in use. 
Allowing seventy-five acres to an average family of five members, 
there is room for 1,119 new families or 5,945 people in the rural 
sections of Union County. 

Through the application of science and capital, these 89,152 acres 
of idle lands (excluding forests) in Union County could be trans¬ 
formed into farms of high productivity. While it would be un¬ 
wise as well as unfeasible to turn all of the idle lands into im¬ 
proved estates immediately, it is clearly seen that there is a suffi¬ 
cient amount of idle land in Union County to insure a farm to ap¬ 
proximately one thousand aspiring owners. 

There is every argument why these idle lands should be made 
available for occupancy by thrifty white farmers; and practically 
no reason why these acres should not be used in furnishing homes 
for many people who are at present homeless. Not only will the 
utilization of these idle acres furnish homes for the homeless, but 
will also add to the wealth resources of Union County. 

Farm Tenancy * 

Our theory of a sound agriculture has quite generally been that 
every man should dwell under his own vine and fig tree. This 
happy situation actually existed at one time, but we are now 
rapidly departing from it. The so-called tenant system is in the 
minds of most men, a symbol of a degenerated agriculture; how¬ 
ever, the facts are that farm rental is no more degenerate than the 
ownership of a building by one man and its occupancy by another. 
Tenantry leaves a bad taste, not because it is wrong within itself, 
but because it has developed through unfortunate causes. 

The question of increasing farm tenancy is one of the greatest 
problems we have to face in Union County. In view of the fact 
that 75.9 per cent of the farmers of Union County do not own the 
farms they operate, or the homes in which they live, it is obvious 


Union County : Economic and Social 


67 


that tenancy is here and is going to be here, and thus it is our 
duty to improve rather than destroy, as we cannot get rid of it. 

The figures for the counties showing the greatest amount of 
tenant operated farms, are as follows: Marlboro 85.6 per cent; 
Dillon 82.1 per cent; Allendale 81.2 per cent; and Beaufort with 
only 14.9 per cent has the lowest percentage. 

Tenancy runs hand in hand with illiteracy and therefore is, as 
a general rule, a hindrance to agricultural development. Statistics 
have shown that in counties where the percentage of white tenancy 
is highest, there is also found the highest percentage of illiteracy. 
The average for six counties in the State’ having the largest per¬ 
centage of share tenancy shows that there is a percentage of 15.1 
in white illiteracy, while for the four counties having the smallest 
percentage of share tenancy, only 5.5 per cent illiteracy prevails. 

One of the worst features of farm tenancy is that it does not 
breed in the tenant the qualities of self-respect, and leadership 
in the community. But rather it tends to break down his interests 
which encompass the development of the community and county. 
According to the Honorable David F. Houston, former Secretary 
of Agriculture; “The tenant, on the average, remains on the same 
farm only about one-sixth as long as the owning farmer, conse¬ 
quently the tenant in most cases manifests little interest in the 
improvement of the farm and the progress of the community. 
Little effort is made to maintain the fertility of the soil and make 
farm life attractive.” Such a process, if continued, must result in 
soil impoverishment and deterioration. 

In its best forms, tenancy, in a limited amount, may be a good 
thing because it is an institution which provides for getting the 
land into the hands of those who are in a position to cultivate it. 
In the North and West a large proportion of tenant farmers are 
young men who are in the process of earning enough money to 
buy a farm. But this does not hold true in the South where “once 
a tenant always a tenant” is very nearly the real condition. The 
average tenant in the South is such because economic conditions 
prevent him from buying land, or else he is lacking in industry, 
thrift, or sagacity. 

To make every tenant a landowning farmer would not be desir¬ 
able, even though it were practical. There are many, particularly 
in the case of the negro, who thrive better as share tenants and 
croppers under the close supervision of their landlord than they 
would were they their own bosses, and it is better for the economic 
well-being of the commonwealth that they remain so. However, 
for the thrifty young white man there should be no barrier placed 
in his way to speedy ownership of his own farm and home. The 


68 


Union County : Economic and Social 


sense of this ownership breeds in him qualities of self-respect that 
make him a stable element in the community, a greater social 
factor in his neighborhood, a center of wealth production and re¬ 
tention, and one whose interests encompass the development of 
the neighborhood, community. State, and nation. A study of 
farm tenancy in a typical up-country community shows that the 
young fellow who starts out working hard, living within his in¬ 
come and saving all he can, is the one who steps out of the tenant 
class into the owner group. There are no insuperable barriers to 
ownership as yet, except those of rank misfortune, in a State where 
50.2 per cent of our farm lands are lying idle. The principle ob¬ 
stacles in the way of ownership in South Carolina are a lack of 
ideals of ownership and a great deal of ignorance, indolence and 
thriftlessness. 

The situation assumes unusual importance when we consider its 
relationship to the existing boll weevil situation. It is the tenant 
farmer who will find the matter of adjustment most difficult. He 
has never leaned towards the system of safe farming which makes 
him provide his food and feed supplies at home; and it is going to 
be hard to instill in him, as quickly as is necessary, new methods 
of farming which must be learned to accommodate an enforced 
change from the present system of agriculture. 

The opportunities of landowners, merchants, bankers, and bus¬ 
iness men to aid in this program of education for readjustment 
constitutes a responsibility, for it is the tenant farmer as a rule 
who is the most inaccessible to the ordinary methods of propa¬ 
ganda. He must be reached by the direct contact of those who 
are accustomed to advise him in his business affairs. Everything 
possible should be done to stimulate the owners living on their 
own farms and taking an active interest in the vital matters of 
maintaining soil fertility and building up community life. 

Negro-Operated Farms 

Of the 2,817 farms in Union County in 1920, 2,138 or 75.9 per cent 
of these farms were operated by tenants. Of the 2,138 tenant 
operated farms, 1,566 were operated by negroes. In 1920, the ne¬ 
groes owned and operated 151 farms or 5 per cent of the total 
number of farms in the county. Of the 151 farms owned by 
negroes, 35 or 23.2 per cent of them were mortgaged. Of all the 
owner-operated farms in Union County 21.3 per cent are negro 
farms. 

According to the best statistics, the percentage of tenancy that 
is negro in South Carolina, with the exception of Georgetown and 
Williamsburg counties, is greater than the percentage of popu- 


Union County : Economic and Social 


69 


lation that is negro. The percentage of tenancy that is negro as 
compared with the percentage of population in Union County 
shows 74 per cent tenancy as compared with 46.3 per cent popu¬ 
lation. However, the reverse is true of white tenancy, the tenancy 
being 26 per cent against 53.7 per cent population. 

Machinery on the Farm 

Union County ranks 42nd in the amount of money spent for im¬ 
plements and machinery on improved land per acre in 1920 with 
$4.79. Anderson leads the State with $11.69 spent for machinery 
while the State average is $7.77 per acre. These figures are very 
striking, and show very clearly the situation which exists in Union 
County. The agriculturist of today, who does not realize the real 
value of improved farm machinery, and use it in his work, is not 
keeping pace with the farmers of other states. Modern farm 
machinery is indispensable to the farmer who would progress 
and keep step with the farmers of other states, and especially of 
the western states, since improved farm machinery is extensively 
used on the western prairies. 

One Crop System 

There are seven fundamental evils of the one crop system 
of farming: (1) It impoverishes the soil; (2) it increases the 
farming risks; (3)' it makes the supply of money available at 
one time and develops the time credit system; (4) it makes the 
marketing machinery difficult; (5) it makes for idleness of machin¬ 
ery and labor; (6) it tends to lower the average intelligence of 
farm labor; (7) it has a depressing effect on the social life of the 
community. It is not necessary to comment upon the bad effects 
of the one crop sytem on agricultural advancement, for it is obvi¬ 
ous from the mere statements themselves that it deters the pro¬ 
gress of Union County’s rural and urban citizenship. 

In 1920, 48 per cent of the total acreage of the crops in South 
Carolina was in cotton, and 51 per cent of the value of the eleven 
leading crops was cotton. Such figures show that South Carolina 
is one of the states practicing the one-crop system. 

There were two possible stimulants to the one-crop system in 
the earlier days—slavery and the invention of the cotton gin. 
In 1793, when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, immediately 
this crop began to advance and grew so rapidly that in a few years 
it became the chief crop of South Carolina. In 1796, when 
our State enacted a law against the slave trade, the cotton pro- 


70 


Union County : Economic and Social 


duction began to decline and finally went to such a point that it 
was necessary to repeal this law in order that cotton could be pro¬ 
duced successfully. In other words, the Southern farmers found 
that for cotton culture to prove profitable, the negro, as the cheap¬ 
est human labor, would have to be employed. 

The mentality of the one crop farmer and of the neighborhood 
of which he forms a part may become, in a large measure affected 
by the continued practice of this system. As long as we persist 
in employing the one crop system, we need not ever expect to be 
a self-sufficing county. From an economic standpoint this should 
be the aim and goal of every county in South Carolina. 

Non-Food Crops 

We find that in Union County, according to the 1920 Census, 
there was a consumption of food and feed supplies amounting to 
the sum of $5,493,524.58, whereas, the production of food and feed 
supplies amounted to $1,570,296. This made a total shortage of 
home food and feed supplies amounting to $3,923,228.58. This is 
to say that the farmers of the county failed to produce the food 
and feed needed for man and beast, by this amount. It should be 
remembered that dainties and luxuries are not considered here, 
only the staple foodstuffs, and also that these are minimum figures 
reported by Federal authorities. 

During the same period, our money crop, which consists prac¬ 
tically of cotton, sold for $4,078,929. Deducting the shortage in 
food and feed production from this sum, we see that our money 
crops gave us a net income of $155,700.42. If our farmers made 
a net income of this amount every year, they could ill afford to 
neglect food raising and continue their present course of raising 
mostly non-food crops. But these figures of 1920 were for a year 
of bumper crops and abnormal prices. In an average year, par¬ 
ticularly under boll weevil conditions, we will find the net income 
of our farmers to be even more disgracefully low. This is primar¬ 
ily because of the expenditures for food and feed supplies. This 
item represents the greatest barrier to the economic progress of 
Union County. 

Livestock 

The livestock situation presents itself as a real problem for the 
farmers of Union County to solve. Livestock authorities figure 
that for a farm to be on a lightly-stocked livestock basis, there 
should be an animal unit for every 5 acres of land in farms. By 
an animal unit on a lightly stocked farm area is meant that for 
every five acres, there should be one mature horse or mule, a dairy 


Union County : Economic and Social 71 

cow, two colts, five hogs, seven sheep, or one hundred hens. There 
was in 1920, 251,453 acres of land in farms in Union County. In 
order for this land area to be even lightly stocked there should 
be 50,291 animal units, yet there were only 12,669 during this 
period, making a shortage of 37,623 animal units. Our farmers 
should bear in mind the fact that a high per capita country wealth 
goes hand in hand with an abundance of domestic animals and that 
low per capita wealth prevails where cattle and other farm animals 
are lacking. 

Compiled statistics from the 1920 Census, gives Union County a 
rank of 19th in the per capita value of livestock products with a 
value of only $11.25. Edgefield County ranks first with a value 
of $22.06. Our increase in the number of hogs from 1910 to 1920 
was 69 per cent, ranking us 27th in this particular. Anderson 
County led the State with an increase of 276 per cent. We ranked 
38th in the increase of poultry from 1910 to 1920, with 14.5 per 
cent. In the per capita pork production for 1920, Union County 
ranked 38th, with 47 pounds. From 1910 to 1920, Union County 
showed a decrease of approximately 1 per cent in the number of 
sheep raised. 

The virgin soils of Union County were relatively so productive 
that the farmers made the great mistake of supposing that these 
soils would always remain so. But they must remember that the 
constant tillage exhausts the humus supply and our virgin soils 
will become less and less productive. Such a process of farming 
must in the end result in impoverishment and deterioration. The 
time has come when the farmers of Union County must give atten¬ 
tion to some means of maintaining the productivity of the soil. 
According to best authorities, the oldest and best fertilizer is barn¬ 
yard manure, and even though commercial fertilizers are often¬ 
times resorted to in an effort to renew the humus supply of the 
soil, the field must be temporarily abandoned to allow nature^ to 
renew the humus supply of the soil. A wiser way of farming 
would be for the farmers of Union County to raise animals for 
manure production, before the soil becomes completely exhausted. 
Over half a century ago a French scientist declared that one of 
the most important lessons for the farmer to learn was how to 
produce good barnyard manure and to use it rationally; that the 
fundamental question was and would remain the manure ques¬ 
tion. There is every reason why the 89,152 acres of idle land in 
Union County should be utilized in the raising of livestock, and 
that each farm now worked should go in for more livestock, there¬ 
by eliminating the large deficit of animal units, and producing 
sufficient manure to insure a productive soil. 


72 


Union County : Economic and Social 


Cattle 

In 1920, Union County had 6,424 dairy cattle and 566 beef cattle, 
making a total of 6,990. These figures show an increase of 7 per 
cent over the 1910 figures. Union ranks 30th with other counties 
of the State in the number of cattle. A slight increase is better 
than a decrease, but still our increase is not what it should be. 
Especial emphasis should be placed in our county upon dairying; 
particularly since the advent of the boll weevil. Too, there should 
be a family cow for every tenant farmer in the county, black as 
well as white folk. 

Swine 

Union County ranks 27th in the number of swine, with 8,260. 
These figures show an increase of 69 per cent during the past 
decade. Our county ranks 38th in the per capita annual pork pro¬ 
duction, with 47 pounds. There is no more promising field of 
livestock endeavor in Union County, along with every other coun¬ 
ty in the State and South, than the raising of hogs. Grazing crops 
of a wide range can be grown on the Piedmont soils, and this will 
enable us to raise our hogs largely on such food, using some corn 
to finish them off before marketing. 

Besides growing hogs for market, with boll weevil conditions ex¬ 
istent, a smoke house well filled with home raised meat is a mighty 
effective antidote for that little pest. 

Horses and Mules 

Union County had in 1920, 813 horses and 3,347 mules. This is 
a very low number compared to other counties of equal size and 
wealth, and even in some cases poorer. These figures show a 
decided decrease in number over the 1910 statistics. This decrease 
is probably due to the decrease in the number of farms and to the 
increase in the use of farm machinery and the growing popularity 
of automobiles. 

Poultry 

Union County in 1920 ranked 37th in the number of fowls, with 
63,103, registering an increase over the previous census figure of 
14.5 per cent. The value of all the poultry in Union County was 
$63,696. 


Facts About Farm Conditions and Practices 
(Compiled from 1920 Census Report) 

36th—In total farm wealth .... $11 889,498 

Anderson first with $61,635,823; Jasper last with 
$4,255,029. Total for the State was $953,064,742, 




Union County : Economic and Social 73 

38th—In per capita country wealth ___ $490.67 

Marlboro first with $1,129.63; Charleston last 
with $289.57. 

33rd—In per cent negro owned farms are of all farms. 5 

Beaufort first with 78 per cent; Dillon last with 
2 per cent. 

40th—In per cent that mortgaged farms are of all farms 5 

Oconee first with 14.7 per cent; Marlboro last with 
2.6 per cent. 

20th—In per cent of negro farms mortgaged.... 23.2 

Beaufort first with 2.8 per cent; Edgefield last with 
48.5 per cent. State average 23.3 per cent. 

38th—In per cent that white mortgaged farms are of 

total farms owned by whites_ 7.3 

Horry first with 13.5 per cent; Beaufort last with 
1.8 per cent. State average 9.5 per cent. 

16th—In per cent of total area in woodland__ 29.2 

Horry first with 43.1 per cent; Beaufort last with 
15.4 per cent. 

38th—In value of crops per acre ....$28 

Beaufort first with $72; York last with $27. 

41st—In per capita crop values based on the eleven lead¬ 
ing crops _ $93.31 

Calhoun first with $234.01; Charleston last with 
$25.37. 

7th—In per cent improved acreage per farm_ 39.9 

Allendale first with 55.2 per cent; Georgetown 
last with 21 per cent. 

38th—In total number of farms _ 2,817 


Anderson first with 8,910; Jasper last with 1,281; 
Total number in State 192,664; Increase from 1910- 
1920, 9.2 per cent. 

42nd—In amount spent for implements and machinery 


on improved land per acre- $4.79 

Anderson first with $11.69; Barnwell last with 
$3.84; State average is $7.77, 

10th—In percentage of farm tenancy - 75.9 

Marlboro first with 85.6 per cent; Beaufort last 
with 14.9 per cent. State average is 64.5 per cent. 

22nd—In percentage that non-food crops are of total 

crop values in 1920 - 77 

Beaufort first with 22 per cent; Marlboro last with 
89 per cent. 

18th—In cotton production in bales, 1921- 17,500 

Spartanburg first with 71,000 bales; Beaufort last 






















74 


Union County : Economic and Social 


with 100 bales. 

31st—In cotton production in pounds per acre- 225 

Marlboro first with 336 pounds; Beaufort last with 
96 pounds. 

38th—In number of bushels increase in com from 1909- 

1919 _______ 43,232 

Anderson first with 577,080 bushels increase; 

Hampton last with 344,845 bushels increase. 

38th—In corn production in bushels per acre.—. 11.9 

Charleston first with 23.6 bushels; Barnwell last 
with 9.5 bushels. State average, 15 bushels. 

43rd—In bushels of corn raised per capita .— 10 6 

Calhoun first with 31.8 bushels; Charleston last 
with 4.2 bushels. State average 16.3 bushels. 

40th—In bushels of wheat produced per acre- 5.3 

Dillon first with 13 bushels; State average 7.4 
bushels. 

29th—In bushels of wheat produced per capita!— - 0.2 

Lexington first with 1.9 bushels; Jasper last with 
none. 

15th—In butter production, pounds per person- 12.1 

Cherokee first with 23.6 pounds; Charleston last 
with 0.1 pounds. State average is 8.2 pounds. 

45th—In number of bushels of oats produced per acre_ 10.5 

Marlboro first with 28 bushels; Jasper last with 
8.1 bushels. State average 18.3 bushels. 

45th—In bushels of oats produced per capita_ 0.2 

Saluda first with 10.2 bushels; Charleston last with 
0.8 bushels. State average 2.1 bushels. 

19th—In value of livestock products per person_ $11.25 

Edgefield first with $22.06; Charleston last with 
$1.71. 

27th—In percentage increase in hogs (1910-1920)_ 69 

Anderson first with 276 per cent; Hampton last 
with 43 per cent decrease. 

38th—In annual pork production, pounds per capita_ 47 

Horry first with 183.3 pounds; York last with 22 
pounds. 

37th—In per cent increase of poultry from 1910-1920_ 14.5 

Charleston first with 97.4 per cent; Berkeley last 
with 60.8 per cent decrease. 

38th—In egg deficit in dozens per person _ 12.1 

Lexington with 2.6 dozens takes first place; 

Charleston last with 16.2 dozens deficit. 












IX. 


BALANCE SHEET IN FOOD AND FEED PRODUCTION 


Fant Kelly. 


Deficit in Food and Feed Production 

A study of data contained in the United States Census of 1920, 
and estimates of the average annual consumption of food and feed 
supplies for man and beast compiled from reports of the Fed¬ 
eral Department of Agriculture, finds that there was a shortage 
of $3,923,228.58 in food and feed products in Union County for the 
year of 1919. The food and feed needs for the county were 
$5,493,524.58, and the production of the county for the year in 
food and feed products was $1,570,296. When we fail to produce 
our food and feed* necessities we have to import them from other 
parts of the country; but in the progress of a county, wealth re¬ 
tention is equally as important as wealth production, and when we 
have to import a large portion of our food and feed products, we 
fail to retain wealth that could be made permanent wealth for the 
county. The soil of Union County with very little effort will 
grow almost any of the food and feed products profitably; conse¬ 
quently there is no valid excuse for planting cotton so exclusively 
and spending outside $3,923,228.58 annually for imported food and 
feed supplies. 

If we were to include in the deficit the money spent for dainties 
and luxuries the figures for underproduction would be even greater. 

Shortage in Detail 

The food and feed shortage in detail consists of 2,602,583 pounds 
of meat; 1,089,931 pounds of butter; 247,914 fowls; 367,491 dozens 
of eggs; 619,901 bushels of corn; 116,804 bushels of wheat; and 
3,792 tons of hay. 


Why the Shortage? 

The main reasons why Union County fails to produce its own 
needed food and feed supplies are three-fold: (1) Excessive farm 
tenancy; (2) lack of attention to food and feed crops; and (3) the 
necessity for a ready cash market for home raised products. 




76 


Union County : Economic and Social 


In 1920, there were 2,817 farms in Union County. Of this num¬ 
ber, more than three-fourths were operated by people other than 
the owners, and five per cent of the farms are owned by the ne¬ 
groes. Union County stands among the first ten counties of the 
State in the highest percentage of farm tenancy. Marlboro has 
first place with 85.6, and Union County tenth, with 75.9 per cent. 
The food and feed shortage is usually greatest in the counties with 
the highest percentage of farm tenancy. 

What is true of the different counties is true of the different 
states. There are only two other states that have a greater per¬ 
centage of farm tenancy than South Carolina. Georgia has 66.6, 
and Mississippi 66 per cent of farm tenancy. In these states 
we find greater attention paid to crops that have a ready cash 
market, and the food and feed production falls short. What we 
need is a readjustment in the relation between the landlord and 
the tenant. At the present time, if the tenant is a cash tenant he 
has to plant a crop for which he can obtain ready money in order 
to pay his rent, or if he pays rent in part of his produce, it is usu¬ 
ally required in cotton. If the tenant is a share tenant he is 
usually required to plant cotton and corn, cotton being given the 
preference. Just as long as the bid system of* farming exists be¬ 
tween the landlord and the tenant, we will continue to have a de¬ 
ficiency in food and feed production. 

We are now confronted with a problem presented by the pest 
known as the boll weevil. Prior to its appearance in our midst, 
cotton was the principal crop. A farmer could raise cotton when 
he could not raise anything else, and so long as we pay so much 
attention to ready money crops there is likely to be a deficiency 
in food and feed crops. Having the boll weevil in our midst, it is 
necessary for everybody to live at home as far as possible. 

To say that we have been paying too little attention to food 
and feed crops is evidenced by the fact that we have an annual 
shortage in food and feed production of approximately four million 
dollars. In 1920, our food and feed needs were $5,493,524, and we 
produced $1,570,296. 

With a one-third increase of food and feed production, Union 
County could be independent from the rest of the world so far as 
food and feed supplies are concerned. Why not produce more 
food and feed supplies and enable ourselves to retain more money 
from our money crops? When the tenant is encouraged to pro¬ 
duce all of the necessities possible, our shortage will be greatly 
reduced. 

Another reason why the farmer fails to produce surplus food 
crops is the absence of a ready cash market for home raised pro- 


Union County: Economic and Social 


77 


ducts. This problem is discussed under another section in this 
chapter. 


Make the Farm Self-Supporting 

The boll weevil entered the United States in the year 1892, near 
Brownsville, Texas. In spite of the efforts of scientists employed 
by the Southern States and the United States Department of Agri¬ 
culture this pest has annually increased its field of operation and 
arrived in Union County in the fall of 1921. The problem that 
we have heard discussed for several years confronts us now, and 
we are facing a condition calling for the actual application of those 
agricultural practices which have been best wherever the weevil 
has established itself. With the variety of things that can be 
grown in the county, the farmer can live in comfort in spite of 
the failure of the cotton crop. 

Since the boll weevil is a reality with us, we will have to combat 
it as effectively as possible. The diversified farming system seems 
to be the best general method. Some of the advantages of this 
method of farming are: 

1. Diversified farming lessens the risks of total failure. The 
yield of a given crop is considerably influenced by weather condi¬ 
tions and pests. A failure is not likely to result from a number 
of different crops in the same year. A failure when a farmer has 
only one money crop is a serious matter, as he will have to carry 
all the expenses of another year. 

2. Diversified farming distributes the income throughout the 
year. If the year’s income is all received at one time it is diffi¬ 
cult to make this money last throughout the year, even when the 
same amount received at different intervals might provide very 
well. 

3. Diversified farming may distribute the labor throughout the 
year. The most important problem is keeping men, horses, and 
machinery, employed the year round. Some types of specialized 
farming are satisfactory in this respect, but they are few and far 
between. 

There is another strong argument in favor of making the farms 
self-supporting. The farmer is the only individual member of 
society that can get along without selling his produce. The man¬ 
ufacturer must sell his finished products if he is to live; this is so 
with the merchant or any other member of society. But the 
farmer who raises his own feed supplies can hold his produce off 
the market if the prices are not satisfactory, and he is not to a 
great; extent inconvenienced, since he has all that he needs to eat. 

If the farmers could only realize that they could control the 


78 


Union County : Economic and Social 


market to a certain extent, the one money crop would not have 
to be depended on year after year to pay their food bills. And 
when the crop is harvested it has to be sold at once regardless of 
price in order that the farmer’s creditors can be paid. 

Standardizing the Farm Products 

The United States Shipping Board has called to our attention 
that when nails are sold in South America the natives want them 
in ten pound bags so they can easily carry them on horse back 
across the country to their ranches. The United States nail man¬ 
ufacturers have ignored this fact by shipping nails in kegs, and 
for this reason they are not developing a market in South Amer¬ 
ica to the extent that other nations are. 

The same thing applies to the Union County farmer. When he 
has corn to sell he expects to sell it on the cob, knowing all the 
while that there is a much greater demand for the commodity if 
properly shelled and sacked. 

Likewise the farmer who has a surplus of potatoes, instead of 
grading them and properly preparing them for the market, takes 
all sizes and grades mixed together and tries to find a market for 
them. Even though he finds a market he will not receive nearly 
as much as he would if they were properly graded. Perhaps the 
consumer has to buy a bushel in order to get a peck of the desired 
grade, but if the producer had graded them he could use the bad 
ones for stock and perhaps receive just as much for the best ones 
as he did for the whole crop. 

The farmer who has hay for sale, why not bale it and properly 
prepare it for the market instead of selling it in loose loads or 
stacks? This will enable the producer to standardize his produce 
and receive a better price for it. 

Local Market Problems 

There are five ways in which a farmer may market his produce: 

1. By direct sale to consumer. 

2. By selling to local stores. 

3. By shipping direct to dealers in large cities. 

4. By selling to local buyers. 

5. By shipping through cooperative associations. 

One of the best ways of marketing farm products is through 
municipal markets. It is doubtful whether the volume of food 
and feed supplies utilized in the town of Union would warrant 
the establishment of a municipal market. The surplus food and 


Union County : Economic and Social 


79 


feed can perhaps be best accommodated by cooperation with the 
county farm demonstration agent in the establishment of a local 
cooperative association based on a single commodity as a unit 
of a larger organization of the same type, as in the building of 
cooperative sweet potato storage houses and the cooperative ship¬ 
ment of livestock in car load lots. The efforts of the county farm 
demonstration agent can usually bring about an accomplishment 
of this nature. In the case of livestock, he can inform the people 
of the county through the county papers, or as he deems wise, 
that a shipment of livestock is to be made, and the farmers who 
have a surplus can bring it to the designated place. The services 
of a grader can be secured to grade the livestock, and each farmer 
paid according to the grade of his shipment. The payment can 
be made through the local bank. 

The problem of providing a ready cash market any day in the 
year for products other than cotton is one of the outstanding 
problems of the county, and can be solved only through the in¬ 
telligent sympathetic cooperation of the business man, the house¬ 
wife, and the farmer. 

Cooperative Marketing 

Production of a crop is but the first step by the farmer, and it 
is useless if it cannot be marketed. It would be of very little use 
to our farmers to increase their production of food supplies over 
what is needed for home consumption when they have no mar¬ 
keting plan. The farmer is at a distinct disadvantage in market¬ 
ing his crops, because successful marketing requires extensive mar¬ 
ket information, the demand and the probable supply, and the 
advertisement of particular products, which is too costly for the 
individual farmer. He is forced to sell his produce to a well in¬ 
formed buyer who can take advantage of him. The lack of a con¬ 
venient market for food crops has been one of the greatest hind¬ 
rances to their production. The solution of this problem lies in 
the plan of cooperative marketing associations. 

Cooperative marketing has never been attempted in Union 
County on any large scale. Most farmers have exaggerated ideas 
of the possible savings from cooperation, and are disappointed 
with the results at the beginning, but it must be remembered that 
it requires time and patience to build up such marketing machinery. 

There has been a long felt need of some organization through 
which our farmers could market their own cotton. But it has 
been only in the past two or three years that efforts were made 
to establish such organizations. The Cotton Growers* Coopera- 


Union County : Economic and Social' 


^OV 

tive Marketing Association has been worked out and is coming 
to the farmer’s resuce, but the changed conditions caused by the boll 
weevil have made it necessary to substitute other crops for cotton 
to a great extent and these crops must be marketed. 

It will be to the best interests of our farmers to go about it in 
a scientific way and not trust to the whims of local buyers. Co¬ 
operation among the California fruit growers has been a means 
of saving to the farmers of California sums beyond estimation;, 
and what cooperative marketing has done for the people of Cal¬ 
ifornia, it will do for the people of South Carolina. 

In South Carolina practically the only plans of cooperative mar¬ 
keting have been for cotton and tobacco. The association for cot¬ 
ton growers plans to grade, class, staple and weigh every bale; 
to warehouse and store cotton wherever and! whenever necessary; 
to sell'all of its cotton in even running lots, each grade, class and 
staple within its own pool; to sell on its own sample and ware¬ 
house receipt; and to sell collectively and only when the market 
demands it. It will sell its cotton as directly as possible; deter¬ 
mine the cost of production of cotton; encourage and develop the 
cooperative production of uniform and standard varieties by com¬ 
munities. 

A similar plan has been worked out for the cooperative mar¬ 
keting of tobacco. One half the aggregate tonnage of tobacco 
in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, was signed up 
for marketing by the Association for the 1922 crop. 

Cooperative associations will operate to great advantage in the 
sale of food and feed crops as well as with cotton and tobacco. 

What the Banks Can Do to Help 

{ 

Money controls all industry, and the banks have become the 
melting pot of business transactions. Therefore, a wise distribu¬ 
tion of money means a well organized business. With the banks 
controlling to a great extent the distribution of money among 
the farmers there is room for them to aid materially in modeling 
the farming system of the county and State. We believe if the 
banks would refuse to lend money to the farmers unless they plant 
a certain per cent of food and feed crops, we would have a better 
system of farming in South Carolina. There is a continuous con¬ 
tact between the purchaser and the creditor, and this puts the 
banks in a position to have a tremendous influence as to the kind 
of business that is to be carried on. 

The banks of Texas are refusing to lend money to the farmer 
unless th'ey agree to plant‘a certain number of acres in food and' 


Union County: Economic and Social 


81 


feed crops. They claim it is better to help by keeping as much 
of the money in the State as possible rather than allow millions 
of dollars to leave the State annually for the commodities that can 
be grown at home. By this plan large amounts of money would 
be retained in the county with an increase in the per capita wealth. 
The result would be a greater volume of business, which would 
benefit the farmer, merchant, and bank. 

A few years of such practices in South Carolina would make 
the agriculture of the State a self-sufficing one. The farmer would 
become independent; the merchant would be able to carry on a 
cash business, and the banks would be able to turn their energies 
towards developing the county instead of feeding it. 

New Farming Methods Needed 

More efficient methods of farming are needed on the farms today. 
When we look at the slip-shod way in which the farmer conducts 
his business, it is a wonder how he ever makes any money. The 
farmer who keeps any record of his expenses and his income is 
an exception rather than the rule. Unless a farmer has some 
system of bookkeeping, he has no way of knowing whether he is 
making a profit or losing; neither has he any way to tell whkh 
crops pay and which do not. Farmers need such records in order 
to know whether they are managing their farms to the best ad¬ 
vantage. Without such a. system, it is almost impossible to tell 
where the leaks in his expenses are and as a result he will con¬ 
tinue year after year to lose on certain crops or certain parts of 
his land. 

If the situation of the majority of the farmers in Union County 
is analyzed it will be found that it is caused chiefly by their ad¬ 
herence to the one-crop system. By continually planting cotton 
the majority of the farmers forget that other crops can be just as 
profitably, and more so, grown. They refuse to substitute other 
crops for cotton mainly because they are too conservative to try 
anything new, and consequently they suffer from it. In years 
when the price of cotton breaks they are almost bankrupted be¬ 
cause they have nothing else to rely on. 

Cotton and tobacco are crops that require constant cultivation. 
The time that they should be cultivated, is the same time that 
other crops should be cultivated, but we have only to look around 
us to see that the food crops are neglected. Corn is allowed to 
turn yellow, gardens burn up, and wheat and oats are left out in 
the weather in order that the cultivation of cotton may be rushed. 
Are the farmers profiting by it? 


82 


Union County: Economic and Social 


Where cotton is planted only one crop can be harvested during 
the year, and the land lies idle almost half the year, whereas the 
most efficient farming method would require its use for a longer 
period of the year or a nearer complete utilization of the land. It 
is true that cotton will continue to be our money crop, but it 
should not be grown to the extent that other crops will be ex¬ 
cluded, and especially food-crops. A sysem of well-balanced 
farming that will give due regard to food-crops and to money 
crops is needed on our farms today. Until some such system is 
adopted. Union County will continue to have a shortage in the 
production of food and feed supplies. 

Tenancy and the one crop system go hand in hand. Seventy- 
five per cent of the farms in Union County are operated by ten¬ 
ants. Here is a problem the landlord alone can solve. The tenant 
in most cases directs all his attention and energy to the money 
crop, and is encouraged by the landlord, because he finds it easier 
to sell his share of the crop if it is a money crop, than if it is com¬ 
posed of food-crops. Instead of forcing the tenant to plant a 
money crop, he should see that the tenant first plants a sufficient 
amount of food crops to supply his own needs. Unless the land¬ 
lords make some effort to encourage the growing of food crops 
by their tenants, it is going to be a hard matter to keep our food 
production equal to our consumption. 

Facts About Food and Feed Production- in Union County 

The data in the following table are compiled from the United 
States Census of 1920. The Union County rank at the left margin 
shows the number of counties that do better. 

38th—In corn production, bushels per acre ___ 11.9 

Charleston County first with 23.6 bushels. State 
average, 15 bushels. 

43rd—In the per capita production in bushels of corn_ 10.6 

The per capita annual consumption figures in the 
' U. S., inclusive of live-stock needs, is 31 bushels; 
the deficit per capita in Union County is 20.4 
< bushels; the total deficit for Union County is 
619,589 bushels. 

43rd—In total corn production in bushels........ 321,631 

Orangeburg County first with 1,460,318 bushels; 

Jasper last with 154,526 bushels; Union County is 
4th from the bottom. Her corn production for 10 
years, 1910-1920 increased 43,232 bushels or 15 per 
cent. The State increase was 31 per cent. Forty 


Union County : Economic and Social 83 

^ counties showed an increase in production. Three 
showed a decrease. 

29th—In wheat production in bushels per person.. 0.2 


4 bushels are needed per capita; deficit per capita 
for Union County, 3.8 bushels; the total deficit, 

115,414 bushels. In 1910, Union County produced 
3,558 bushels of wheat from 520 acres; in 1920, 

4,684 bushels on 884 acres. 

45th—In production of oats in bushels per acre_ 10.5 

Marlboro first with 28 bushels per acre; the State 
average was 18.3 bushels. The total crop for 
Union County was 7,439 bushels. 

42nd—In total crop of hay and forage, in tons___ 3,800 

From 1910-1920 our hay crop increased 23 per cent. 

For each work animal SV 2 pounds of hay was 
produced for each day. Ten pounds are needed 
per day. 3,800 . tons were produced; 7,014 tons 
were needed. The shortage was 3,214 tons. 

42nd—In beef production, in pounds per capita.^....—. 6.3 

Beaufort first with 129.8 pounds; Greenville last 
with 3.6 pounds per person. The average for the j 
State was 17.8 pounds per person; 150 pounds are 
needed per person; deficit per person, 143.7 pounds. 

38th—In pork production, in pounds per capita-- 47 

Horry County first with 183.3 pounds per person; 

York last with 22 pounds. State average per cap¬ 
ita 67 pounds. From 1910-1920 the number of 
hogs increased 69 per cent in Union County. 

44th—In poultry production, in pounds per capita. 3.9 

Saluda County first with 15.4 pounds per person; 

Charleston County last with 2.6 pounds. The num¬ 
ber of fowls in Union County increased 14.5 per 
cent from 1910-1920. 42 pounds are needed per 
person per year. The deficit is 38.1 pounds per 
person. Total deficit 1,157,173 pounds. 

38th—In eggs deficit per capita, dozens - 12.1 

17.5 dozens are needed per person per year. Our .,■! 

shortage was 12.1 dozens per person; total short¬ 
age was 367,491 dozens. 

15th—In butter production, pounds per person--..... 12.1 

Cherokee County first with 23.6 pounds per per¬ 
son. The State average was 8.2 pounds. 

44th—In value of livestock produced per capita— . $4.54 

Edgefield first with $22.06 per person; Charles¬ 
ton last with $1.71 per person. 






84 


Union County: Economic and Social 


40th—In bushels of wheat produced per acre.— 5.3 

Dillon County first with 13 bushels per acre. The 

State average is 7.4 per acre. Union’s average is 
below that of the State. 

Balance Sheet in Food and Feed Production for Union County 

Food and Feed Needed; 

30,372 people @ $167.28 . $4,898,396.16 

4,160 work animals @ $75.75..$313,120.00 

6,424 dairy cattle @ $25.67... 164,904.08 

566 beef cattle @ $12.86 .. 8,801.30 

, 8,260 swine @ $3.44 ... 89.44 

- 595,128.42 


Total food and feed needed .—.. $5,493,524.58 

Total Food and Feed Produced: 

Food and feed crops ......$1,156,329.00 

Dairy products ...$191,756 

Poultry products ...... 63,696 

Honey and wax ____ 95 

Beef cattle and swine ..... 158,420 

- 413,967.00 


Total food and feed produced ... $1,570,296.00 

Deficit ..... $3,923,228.58 


Butter needed for 30,372 people @ 48 lbs. per person. 1,457,856 

Produced . 367,925 

Deficit . 1,089,931 

Fowls needed for 30,372 people @ 12 fowls per person. 364,464 

Produced .-... 116,550 

Deficit ........... 247,914 

Eggs needed for 30,372 people @ 17% dozen per person 531,510 
Produced ... 163,007 

Deficit .—.....^ 368,503 

Corn needed for 30,372 people @ 31 bushels per person 941,532 
Produced _ 321,631 

Deficit- 619,901 
































Union County; Economic and Social 85 

Wheat needed for 30,372 people @ 4 bushels per person 121 488 
Produced ------ 


Deficit ..... 1,6,804 

Hay needed for 4,160 work animals @ 10 pounds per day, 

-.-.-...... 7,592 

Produced ... 3 800 


Deficit . 3_792 

Total meat needed for 30,372 people @ 152 pounds 

per person . 4,616,544 

Meat Produced: 

285 calves @ 150 pounds... 42,750 

281 cattle @ 350 pounds ... 98,350 

63,103 poultry @ 3j4 pounds ... 220,861 

8,260 swine @ 200 pounds ...1,652,000 

- 2,013,961 


- ■ Deficit ......... 2,602,583 

Union County Livestock: 1920 Census 

1. Animal Units on Hand 1919: Animal Units 

I . 4,090 mature work animals .. 4,090 

\ 44 spring colts (1-4) . 11 

1 29 yearling colts (1-2) . 15 

1 3,940 dairy cows . 3,940 

\ 3,050 other cattle (1-2) ......_...._. 1,525 

1 3,845 mature hogs (1-5)' . 769 

't 3,415 spring colts (1-10) .—.. 442 

\ 26 mature sheep (1-7) . 4 

j . 60,040 poultry (1-100) ......... 600 


Total animal units ..-...-.— 11,376 

2. lAnimal units needed—251,452 acres divided by 5-. 50,291 

1 Per cent of animals in a lightly stocked farm area ‘ 22 
\ Per cent below the level .—.-. 78 

N^te—A lightly stocked farm area means one animal unit for 


evcrj 5 acres of farm lands. A unit is a horse, a cow, 2 colts, 5 
hogs,\7 sheep, or 100 hens. 


































X. 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESS 


Fant Kelly. 
R. M. Hope. 


We endeavor to set forth in this chapter some of the things of 
which Union County can justly be proud. But let'us not forget 
that there is always room for improvement. We stand in the 
forefront in some things; in many things, we fall short. Yet, in 
comparison with other counties of the State, our county ranks 
as a leader. As a whole. Union County is a progressive county; 
and when the people become fully awake and grasp every oppor¬ 
tunity to better the interests of the county, the old maxim “In 
union there is strength” will be made a greater reality ,in our 
county. 

Wealth 

Considering the assessed value of property on the tax books 
in South Carolina as 42 per cent of the actual value, in 1920 the 
total wealth of Union County amounted to $23,290,500 as true 
value. The United States Census of 1920 gives the farm wealth 
of the county as $11,889,498. Between 1910 and 1920, our farm 
wealth increased 144 per cent. From 1914 to 1922, the banking 
resources of the county increased from $1,523,728 to $4,396,758, or 
188.5 per cent increase. The report of the State Commissioner of 
Agriculture, Commerce and Industries for 1922 reports an invest¬ 
ment of $12,109,311 in textile industries. Only three counties in 
the State make a better showing. ^ 

These figures show that Union County is becoming more and 
more an industrial county. Already more than half of its total 
wealth is invested in textile industries. 

Our per capita taxable wealth in 1920 was $766. Only five coun¬ 
ties report a higher figure. The per capita banking resources in 
1919^ were $138. There is one bank for every 3,375 inhabi:ants, 
white and black in the county. The average for the State in this 
particular is 3,644. , | 






Union County : Economic and Social 


87 


Agriculture 

The soils of Union County are, in the main, what are known as 
the Cecil types. These are the red clay and clay loam soils 
characteristics of the Piedmont region of the South. While the 
lay of the land in Union County lends itself to washing and the 
consequent formation of gullies, there is perhaps no type of soil 
in the world which can successfully grow a wider variety of crops. 
Such soils are very susceptible to improvement, and once a high 
state of fertility is established it is easily maintained. Rotation 
of crops, with a liberal inclusion of legumes, and a larger live¬ 
stock program are the principle factors contributing towards this 
end. 

As has been noted, during the past ten years the farm wealth 
of Union County increased approximately 145 per cent, or about 
one and one-half times. 

Ninety-five per cent of the farms in the county are owned by 
whites. Only nine counties in the State can show a higher per¬ 
centage in this regard. 

In 1920, of 2,817 farms in the county only 5 per cent were mort¬ 
gaged. Six counties only can lay claim to a better showing in 
this item. 

During the past decade Union County’s agriculture shows signs 
of progress. More pure bred hogs are being distributed over the 
county, the dairy cow is becoming a more familiar sight, and 
better farm practices are being adopted. Cotton has beeq, how¬ 
ever, too long King in Union County. The presence of the boll 
weevil may alter these conditions, and if it does, this pest could 
be termed an asset to the couty rather than a menace. Our need 
in the agricultural field is better and more efficient farming 
methods. The failure of the cotton crop for the past few years 
has put the farmers to thinking. There is a present tendency for 
the rural population to leave the farms and drift to the cities and 
urban districts. Conditions in the agricultural communities are 
calling forth new ideas, and let us hope that when the present 
dark clouds of depression and discontent are rolled away. Union 
County will be left with a more intelligent class of farmers. The 
efficient and thrifty farmers should be encouraged to remain on 
our farms. 

Industries of Union County 

Union County is considered an agricultural county. But in the 
field of manufacture Union stands at the front. The United States 
Bureau of the Census gives Union County for the year 1919 a value 


88 


Union County: Economic and Social 


of $17,884,448 in manufactured products. The report of the State 
Commissioner of Agriculture, Commerce and Industries for 1922, 
gives Union County textile industries an investment of $12,109,311 
in capital employed and an annual output of $10,740,244 in goods 
produced. Our county ranks fourth in the amount of capital in¬ 
vested in textile industries; fourth, in value of annual production 
in textile products; sixth in number of textile establishments, and 
sixth in the value of all manufactured products. 

Our water power and power plants are in a state of develop¬ 
ment, ranking second among the industries of the county. 

When you consider the fact that there were practicably few in¬ 
dustrial plants in Union County in 1910, and review Union Coun¬ 
ty’s present status as a manufacturing county, you can readily see 
that the future holds great things in store for our industrial en¬ 
terprises, and every effort should be put forth for their develop¬ 
ment. Such a development will help the county and State in many 
ways. It will increase the wealth-producing power; afford profit¬ 
able employment to a large population; create new markets nearer 
home for the agricultural produce of the farmers; and increase 
the permanent wealth and taxable property of the county. 

Honie Demonstration Work 

Union is one among hundreds of other counties throughout our 
great country doing demonstration work. Home demonstration 
work is the realization of a vision of the late Dr. Seaman A. 
Knapp, the great agricultural philosopher. He first established 
demonstration work for the boys; having successfully started this 
work, ideas began to take more definite form in his mind for work 
of a similar nature for the girls. In an address before the State 
Teachers’ Association in South Carolina in 1907, Dr. Knapp said: 
“If much can be done for boys to interest and instruct them in 
their life work, more can be done for girls. Teach them to mend 
and sew and cook; how to ‘doctor;’ how to dress a wound or 
make a ligature; how to adorn the simple home and make it appear 
like a palace; how by simple arrangement the environment of the 
home can be transformed into a place of beauty. In the United 
States the art of cooking is almost a lost art. There are com¬ 
munities where not to be a dyspeptic is to be out of the fashion. 
If we could have some lessons on how to live royally on a little, 
how to nourish the body without poisoning the stomach, and to 
balance a ration for economic and healthful results, there would 
be a hopeful gain in lessening the number of bankrupts by the 
kitchen route.” 



Union County : Economic and Social 


89 


This vision began its reality in 1910 when the first “Tomato 
Club” was organized in Aiken County, South Carolina. From this 
small beginning, home demonstration work has grown with leaps 
and bounds until now its scope includes work in gardening, poultry 
keeping, dairying, marketing, canning, sewing, food preparation, 
household management, child welfare, nutrition, home furnishing, 
and beautifying the home grounds. 

Home demonstration work in Union County during the past 
year was conducted in general through the girls’ home demonstra¬ 
tion clubs, girls’ and boys’ poultry clubs, and home demonstra¬ 
tion clubs for women. There were more than one hundred boys 
and girls interested in the work, and sixty -per cent of these re¬ 
ceived certificates on the year’s work which meant no less than a 
grade of 75 per cent, and several made 98 per cent. The girls’ 
clubs embraced canning and gardening, sewing, cooking and poul¬ 
try clubs. They were met monthly either in the homes of the 
girls or at the school houses by the county home demonstration 
agent, Miss Mahala J. Smith, and a regular outlined course of 
study was followed. 

The women in the various clubs throughout the county, did 
splendid work in canning, gardening, preserving, pickling, dairy¬ 
ing, poultry work and marketing. Many of them, by their skillful 
management, have been able to assist their husbands with their 
farms in a material way. 

The work done in nutrition since the fall of 1921 is well worth 
mentioning. Over 2,000 children have been weighed and meas¬ 
ured and some follow up work has been done in the nutrition 
classes and clinics. Last year there were three classes; they were 
met monthly by Miss Lola M. Snider, State Food Specialist, 
Winthrop College, assisted by the county agent. They also held 
a clinic and twenty-one children had their tonsils and adenoids 
removed. At present there are two classes, and plans have been 
made to hold three clinics this spring. 

Farm Demonstration Work 


The Agricultural Extension Service of South Carolina, conducted 
through Clemson Agricultural College and the United States De¬ 
partment of Agriculture cooperating with headquarters at Clem¬ 
son College, was organized several years past, and the work of 
this department is now conducted with the idea fixed in the minds 
of its members that there arc certain fundamental principles in the 
economic production and scientific marketing of farm crops that 
must of necessity be adhered to in a logical and systematic way. 


90 


Union County : Economic and Social 


To this end the Extension Service has formulated a clear and 
comprehensive program of work for each county. This program 
indicates a clear understanding of existing agricultural problems 
and what should be done. 

1. Soil building through the use of legumes, livestock and crop 
rotation. 

2. Demonstrations in the economical production of all import¬ 
ant field crops. 

3. Demonstration in the proper care and management of fruits, 
berries and garden crops, both for home and commercial con¬ 
sumption. 

4. Encourage the use and production of purebred seed. 

5. Making farm self-supporting through the production of suffi¬ 
cient food and feed for man and beast. 

6. Increasing the number and improving the quality of live¬ 
stock through the use of meritorious pure bred sires. 

7. Assist in the organization and maintenance of community 
clubs for both adults and children. 

8. Encourage cooperative marketing associations, organized on 
commodity basis, for the scientific marketing and distribution of 
farm products. 

The farm demonstration work in Union County is projected 
along these lines and is considered an effective agency in the 
development of a safe and sane agriculture. 

School Improvement 

Our country is built upon the doctrine of equal opportunity for 
all, and this doctrine will always appear false until the advan¬ 
tages of urban and rural schools are equalized. The rural school 
has not kept pace with the increasing complexity of environment. 
The urban school has. The educational chain is no stronger than 
its weakest link. Therefore, nine months term is just as essen¬ 
tial to the rural school as to • the urban. The country folk are 
awakening to this fact and quite a number are moving into the 
city where their children may get at least a high school education. 
Every white child is entitled to that. The prosperity of our coun¬ 
try is primarily dependent upon the farmer and the farmer is 
needed on the farm. 

In order to save the rural population, the county board of edu¬ 
cation is planning to consolidate as many of the one teacher 
schools as the condition of the roads and the density of popula¬ 
tion will justify. They are planning, also, to establish centralized 
high schools at Jonesville, Bald Rock, Cross Keys, West Springs, 
and possibly at Santuc. A glance at the county map will show 


Union County : Economic and Social 


91. 


that this will put a high school within the reach of practically 
every child in the county. The board realizes that this will re¬ 
quire a considerable expenditure of money but they feel that the 
people are willing to make the sacrifice and that this is the op-' 
portune time to take this forward step. 

City School System 

Twenty-eight years ago the total white enrollment of the city 
school of Union was 202, with only one small school building. 
The report for the session 1921-1922 showed a white enrollment’ 
of 1,914 and a negro enrollment of about 800. 

In 1909, a modern high school building was erected from a bond 
issue which received only two votes “Against bonds.” The present 
enrollment in the high school is 244. 

In 1922, a handsome modern grammar school was erected on 
East Main Street to relieve the crowded condition in the other 
schools. Monarch Mill is now moving the twelve room wooden 
building in order to erect a modern fifteen room brick building. 
From time to time the cotton mills have erected school buildings 
in their villages. The schools at the mills are taught by teachers 
elected by the city school board. The teachers are paid from the 
regular school fund and the schools are supervised by the . city 
superintendent of schools'. 

Twenty years ago night schools were organized at the mills for 
the education of illiterates. The teachers were paid from the reg-. 
ular school funds of the district until the present system of illit¬ 
eracy. schools was organized by the State. Union claims to be 
the first, or among the first, to have regularly organized night 
schools in the State. 

The graduates of the Union High School are occupying lucra¬ 
tive and important positions in South Carolina and in other states 
of the Union, and the school is justly proud of the record they 
are making. 

The school system, with its eight school buildings, now employs 
sixty-eight teachers and has a total enrollment of over 2,700 pupils. 

The management of the schools in the district is in charge of 
Superintendent Davis Jeffries, who has been connected with the 
schools for twenty-eight years. The present school board is com¬ 
posed of the following gentlemen: Messrs. C. C.’ Sanders, Chair¬ 
man; B. B. James, Secretary; L. W. Blackwelder, L. E. McAlpine, 
and J. W. Pollard. 


92 


Union County : Economic and Social 


Gener2il Improvements in Mill Villages • ' 

During the past few years, prosperity in the cotton mills of, 
Union County has given the mills the opportunity of putting into 
effect some of the plans of improvement that heretofore they have 
been handicapped in by financial reasons. It is plainly noticeable 
as you enter the mill villages, that there has been a decided change 
generally by improvements of the streets, houses and landscapes. 
New schools and adequate educational facilities have been put into 
operation in almost every mill village of the county, and the new 
child labor laws, together with the compulsory attendance law, 
have made it necessary to enlarge the old schools and add addi¬ 
tional teachers to meet the growing demands. A new form of’ 
“employee benefit” has been inaugurated in a number of mills in 
the form of “group insurance,” which the mills have taken out ‘ 
covering all their employees with absolutely no cost whatever to 
the employees. This gives to each employe who remains in the 
employ of the mill company a nominal life insurance as long as 
he is in the employ of the same company. The amount of the 
insurance ranges in value with the length of service of the erh- 
ployee. The mills have come to be a booster for safety, feeling 
that safety first is not a question of dollars and cents, but a ques¬ 
tion of the saving of human life, by installing new machinery,' 
improving their water supply, and installing sanitary drinking 
fountains. 

The Lockhart Mill Company has within the last three years, 
made the following notable improvements: Installed lighting and 
.sewerage system in every house, paved sidewalks, built ice plant 
and laundry, installed sanitary drinking fountains and new toilets 
in mill, built a new modern school building, built 125 new houses,' 
repainted all of the houses, and built a swimming pool. 

The Union-Buffalo Mills Company has paved sidewalks, im¬ 
proved the streets, and erected a picture show hpuse at Buffalo;' 
has installed baths in 200 employees’ houses and built 15 new’ 
houses. 

The Monarch Mills Company has paved sidewalks, built a steam 
laundry, installed sewerage system, and installed motors and elec¬ 
trical equipment in mill. They are now planning to build 50 new 
houses and a modern school building, complete in every detail. 

The Victor Monaghan Company has paved sidewalks, remodeled 
employees* homes, installed sanitary drinking fountains in the’ 
mill'and nine new frames in the card room. '' 

The Excelsior Knitting Mills has installed light and sewerage' 
system, graded streets and paved sidewalks, built a modern play¬ 
ground, and installed new machinery. 


Union County : Economic and Social 


93 


The Gault Manufacturing Company has installed baths in four¬ 
teen houses, and installed sanitary drinking fountains in mill. 

Such improvements are to be commended, and it is to be hoped 
that the prosperous conditions of the mills will prove to induce 
far more investments. The State Commissioner of Agriculture, 
Commerce and Industries in a report of his submitted to the Gov¬ 
ernor said: “The mill managers of South Carolina, in the main, 
are humane, considerate and even ambitious to keep constantly 
improving the conditions surrounding the life jof their employees.” 
This statement may well be applied to mill managers in Union 
County and they are to be commended on improvements during 
the past three years. 


Good Roads 

Prior to 1920, there were no improved roads in Union County, 
or roads that were reasonably passable in bad weather. There 
are approximately eight hundred miles of public roads in the coun¬ 
ty, and more than two miles of bridges of over twenty-foot span. 
The bridges were usually of* the cheapest type, and in many cases, 
unsafe for the loads passing over them. 

A building program was started early in 1920 from the proceeds 
of bond issues, and to date approximately 180 miles of road have 
been constructed. The rnain highways were - relocated, using a 
maximum curvature of 12 degrees, and a maximum gradient of -5 
per cent. To keep within these limits has cost considerable 
money, especially in the rough and hilly country where a cheaper 
road would have been unsatisfactory. All roads graded have been 
properly drained and surfaced with top-soil, and the completed 
roads have cost from three to seven thousand dollars per mile, 
depending upon the topography of the country through which they 
pass, and the cost of labor and material at the time of construc¬ 
tion. 

There are eight improved roads radiating from Union as the 
center and five from Jonesville, the second center of population. 
In most cases, these roads reach the county line and connect with 
the improved roads of the adjoining counties. 

The main highways carry an average traffic of 500 vehicles per 
day. To complete the main highways of the county will require 
about fifty miles of additional construction, some of which is under 
way. The chain-gang is being kept on permanent road construc¬ 
tion, and is building about ten miles of first class road per year. 
The secondary roads have been improved by a system of main¬ 
tenance, and it is now possible to reach any section of the countjr 
in comfort and in a reasonable time. ‘ 


94 


Union Countt : Economic and Social 


Three first class bridges have been constructed, with two more 
to be built this year. The road program contemplates the con¬ 
struction of approximately twenty miles, half of which will be done 
with the chain-gang. There are many bridges in an unsatisfactory 
condition, but the funds for both construction and maintenance of 
roads and bridges are limited. 

In regard to the benefits of our new road construction program, 
it is the opinion of the county engineer that the road improvement 
and maintenance program has reduced the travel and haulage cost 
not less than fifty per cent. 

Young Men's Business League 

The Young Men’s Business League of the City of Union was or¬ 
ganized approximately one year ago, for the purpose of aiding any 
business or industrial enterprise that would through its develop¬ 
ment benefit both the city of Union and the county at large. The 
league at the time of its organization took over the assets and 
liabilities of the Union Chamber of .Commerce, and through its 
organization hoped to extend the work of the Chamber of Com¬ 
merce. 

The Young Men’s Business League has successfully handled or 
has aided 'in the handling of several matters of interest to both 
county and city. It was through the untiring efforts of the League 
that Gypsy Smith was brought to Union where he conducted a 
series of evangelistic meetings. Another matter of interest to the 
county which was promoted by the Young Men’s Business League 
was the baseball game between Rochester and New York, played 
in Union at the beginning of the 1922 Series. The League has an 
active membership of more than one hundred, with officers as fol¬ 
lows: W. S. Nicholson, President; J. W. Wilbanks, Vice Presi¬ 
dent; W. A. Walker, Vice President; W. H. Perrin, Treasurer; 
Ben T. Gibson, Secretary. The directors arc: W. H. Perrin, D. 
N. Wilburn, E. M. Garner, I. K. Brennecke, J. W. Wilbanks, W. 
W. Alman, T. D. Truluck, F. P. Sally, E. A. Goodwin, T. C. Jolly, 
W. A. Walker, W. S. Nicholson. 

Carnegie Free Library 

Largely through the untiring efforts of Mrs, B. G. Clifford and 
Mr. Allan Nicholson, the Carnegie Free Library was opened in the 
city of Union in the year 1905. The library building cost $10,000, 
which sum was secured from the Carnegie fund. The city of Union 
bought the lot for the erection of the building and has appropriated 
$1,000 to the library each year since the year 1905. This appropri- 


The Highway Bridge Connecting Chester and Union Counties, at Lockhart, 

























Union County : Economic and Social 


95 


ation has recently been increased to $1,250 per year, thereby mak¬ 
ing possible the purchasing of more and better books. 

The library has a total of 5,000 volumes of reference works, 
short stories, and more especially, choice stories for children. 
The yearly circulation of the library is approximately 30,000 books. 
A proof of the great interest which is being shown in the library 
is the fact that 1,500 people are regular card holders. Miss Neely 
Sartor is the efficient librarian, having served in this capacity for 
a period of six years. 

The library is under the direction and control of nine trustees, 
all of whom are prominent men in the life of the city and county. 
The trustees are R. P. Morgan, Chairman; W. E. Thompson, C. 
H. Peake, L. M. Jordan, W. W. Johnson, L. J. Hames, R. P. Harry, 
and Allan Nicholson. 

The Carnegie Free Library not only holds within its walls the 
literature and reading matter for the county and city of Union, but 
on its walls hang pictures of men and women who have lived their 
lives for Union County and humanity. There arc many relics of 
Union County to be found in the library, which should be of 
interest to every Union County boy or girl. The Carnegie Free 
Library deserves the support of every person in Union County, 
not for its own sake, but for the educational and social influences 
which its volumes will exert upon the people of our county. 

Wallace Thomson Hospital 

The Wallace Thomson Hospital is a stock company with a 
capital of $10,000, organized in Union to provide a hospital for 
the care of the people of the county and surrounding country. 
The company has released the hospital to Dr. B. B. Steedley, who 
is surgeon in charge, and Miss Elizabeth Earle, who is superin¬ 
tendent. 

It is a 30 bed hospital, with operating room, sterilizing room, 
and X-ray room, built with all modern conveniences provided, and 
up-to-date in every respect. All the nurses are graduate nurses, 
having had years of experience before coming to Union. The 
hospital handles general surgical, medical and obstetrical cases, 
numbering approximately 300 patients per year. 

Those connected with the hospital are as follows: Drs. B. B. 
Steedley and W. S. Zimmerman, Surgeons; Drs. A. P. McElroy 
and D. H. Montgomery, Assistant Surgeons; Dr. W. H. Hope, 
Anesthetist and X-Ray; Dr. P. K. Switzer, Internal Medicine; 
Miss Mary Lee Parks, Operating Nurse; Miss Elizabeth Earle, 
Superintendent, and five registered nurses. 


96 


Union County : Economic and Social 


The Salvation Army 

The city’s relief and charity work is mostly carried on by the 
Salvation Army with the aid of the different church societies. The 
principal work of the Army here is spiritual and consists of relig¬ 
ious services in their halls, different homes, jails, and chain-gangs. 
The Gipsy Smith Club, with its ten different teams of men assist 
in these different services. Street meetings are also held through¬ 
out different parts of the town and county where hundreds are 
reached with the Gospel. 

An Advisory Board of prominent men and women are connected 
with the Army and direct its financial appeals and advise in many 
different matters that come up from time to time. Following are 
the names of the men and women serving on this board: C. C. 
Sanders, President; Ernest L. Spears, Vice President; Emslie 
Nicholson, Treasurer; Miss Frontis Winn, Secretary; R. H. Harris, 
W. C. Lake, F. H. Garner, J. F. Hart, T. J. Glenn, J. M. Bates, 

A. G. Kennedy, B. L. Berry, W. W. Johnson, Paul E. Wilburn, 
I. K. Brennicke, Miss. Pearl Harris, Miss Edna Tinsley, and Mrs. 

B. L. Berry. 

Newspapers 

There are published in the city of Union one daily paper. The 
Union Daily Times; and one weekly. The Progress. The Union 
Daily Times carries dispatches from the Associated Press and 
also local items of interest. It is under the management and edi¬ 
torship of Rev. L. M. Rice. The Progress is published every 
Thursday and carries a considerable amount of local news with 
some matters of national interest. It is under the management 
of Mr. W. W. Colton, with Mr. Allan Nicholson as Editor and 
Publisher. Both of these are very creditable newspapers and have 
a large circulation in the county. 

Where We Lead 

In South Carolina, there are forty-six counties, and we think 
that Union County is one of the leading counties, when there are 
not over fifteen that make a better showing. The figures in the 
following table are for 1920, except where otherwise indicated. 
Union County ranks as follows: 

4th—In amount of capital invested in textile industries_$12,109,311 
Spartanburg comes first with $20,886,724, and 
Chesterfield last with $141,000. 


Union County : Economic and Social 


97 


—In value of annual production in textile industries_$17,467,669 
Greenville first with $47,166,642; Barnwell last with 
$ 100 , 000 . 

5th—In number of deaths per 1,000 population... 8.8 

Richland County, with 26.1 deaths per 1,000 popu¬ 
lation has the highest death rate. Colleton Coun¬ 
ty has fewest deaths, 7.4 per 1,000 inhabitants. 

The State average is 13.6. 

6th—In wealth per capita_ $766 

Richland first with $891; Horry last with $354. 

6th—In value of manufactured products__$17,884,448 

Spartanburg first with $48,793,848; Allendale last 
with $126,918. 

6th—In number of factory wage earners_ 3,876 

Spartanburg first with 8,924; Allendale last with 55. 

6th—In number of textile establishments_ 8 

Spartanburg has 31. Sixteen counties have none. 

6th—In average special tax levy in county (mills)_ 10 1-3 

Darlington first with 16 4-5 mills; Jasper last 
with 4 1-2 mills. 

6th—In number of homicides per 100,000 population_ 3.3 

There was one homicide in Union County in 1920; 
there were 259 in the State, a rate of 15.2 per 
100,000 population. 


7th—In percentage of mortgaged farms _ 5 

Marlboro first with 2.6 per cent; Pickens last 
with 14.7 per cent. 

7th—In average improved acres per farm....... 39.9 

Allendale first with 55.2 acres; Georgetown last 
with 21 acres. 

7th—In total wages paid factory workers-$2,704,531 

Greenville first with $6,884,805; Allendale last with 
$41,800. 

8th—In average number of white pupils per school- 62 

Charleston first with 114 pupils; Jasper last with 
21 pupils. 

9th—In per capita investment in school property- $13.03 

Florence first with $29.07; Fairfield last with $2.77. 

9th—In per cent decrease of negro population in ratio 

of total population_ 5.4 

Greenwood came first with a decrease of 9.4 per 
cent; Chesterfield last with 0.6 per cent 











98 


Union County : Economic and Social 


lOth—In percentage of farms owned by whites_ 95 

Dillon first with 98 per cent; Beaufort last with 
22 per cent. 

11th—In average length of session in white schools, 

in days _ 177 

Sumter first with 187 days; Allendale last with 149 
days; State average, 171 days. 

11th—In percentage of white population ....... 53.6 

In Pickens County 83 per cent of population are 
white; in Beaufort only 22 per cent. 

11th—In percentage of quota subscribed in Liberty 

Loans _ 106.4 

Our quota was $1,398,050 and we subscribed 
$1,494,200—going over the top 100 per cent plus 
6.4 per cent. 

12th—In total value of all school property _ $395,907 

Greenville first, with $2,568,374; Jasper last with 
$38,042. 

14th—In population per square mile ____ 61.7 

Spartanburg first with 123 persons per square 
mile; Jasper last with 16.6 persons per square 
mile. Average for State 55. 

14th—In total illiteracy, per cent _ 17.3 

Pickens first with 10.7 per cent; Berkeley last 
with 38.4 per cent. 

15th—In per capita banking resources _ $13 

Richland first with $29 per capita; Berkeley last 
with 65 cents. 

15th—In butter production per capita, in pounds ... 12.1 

Cherokee first with 23.6 pounds; Charleston last 
with 0.1 pounds; State average 8.2 pounds. 















XI. 


OUR PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS 


R. M. Hope. 
Fant Kelly. 


This chapter is a reflector in which the people of Union County 
may see themselves reflected on the screen in comparison with 
other counties of the State. We have attempted in the preceding 
•chapter to enumerate the things of which Union County should 
justly be proud, but unfortunately the opposite is true in many 
cases. In every such unfavorable condition we come face to face 
with a problem, which problem will have to be solved before we 
can attain that economic and social position to which we aspire 
as a county. 

If it were possible that Union County ranked first in every par¬ 
ticular, then there would be no need for this chapter; however, 
such is not the case and it is to be hoped that this chapter will 
fulfill its mission by pointing out our faults and imperfections. It 
is the primary purpose of this work to call these defects to the 
attention of our people, with the hope that with this realization 
will come a determination to eradicate these evils, for evils they 
are, that are thwarting our development, retarding our progress, 
and hindering our people from obtaining that efficient, prosperous 
and wholesome life which all of us want. 

Public School Education 

However much we may praise Union County in its school sys¬ 
tem we cannot forget that there are many glaring defects.. Edu¬ 
cation is an essential element to the success and intelligence of 
every human being. The ignorant man is bound to be the physical 
slave of the man with an educated brain. He is destined to drag 
out a weary existence, eating the bread earned by the sweat of his 
brow. Educational authorities have said that each day spent in; 
school will in after years net the student nine dollars in money. 
But this is the least value of schooling. The true value and worth 
comes from being trained to think sanely and act wisely on one's 
own initiative. 




100 


Union County : Economic and Social 


The intelligence of a community is fairly well determined by the 
per cent of school attendance of children enrolled. In the year 
1920, 61.3 per cent of the white children enrolled were in regular 
attendance, ranking Union County 42nd in this one particular. 
In the same year, 63.6 per cent' of both races enrolled in school 
were in regular attendance. In other words this means that 38.7 
per cent of the white children were habitually absent. There can 
be but one solution to this problem and that is a better cooperation 
on the part of parents in enforcing the Compulsory Education Law. 

No county, nor State can have a good school system without 
good teachers, therefore, in order for Union County to develop a 
strong school system, some raise in salary must be made to keep 
the best teachers. In 1920, Union County paid white men teachers 
an average annual salary of $1,286.76, and her white women teach¬ 
ers an average annual salary of $576.55. The average annual sal¬ 
ary for both sexes was $931.65. This is a good average when com¬ 
pared with other counties, but it is pitifully small when viewed 
in terms of service rendered. Better salaries mean better teachers 
and consequently, better schools. 

Union County needs more consolidated schools. One-teacher 
schools cannot be as efficient as consolidated schools, especially 
in a thickly settled rural county. Family interest in small nearby 
schools ought to give way to the community welfare in well 
equipped and supervised schools capable of serving an entire com¬ 
munity. Here is a statement from County Superintendent of Edu¬ 
cation, F. M. Ellerbe: “In order to save the rural population, the 
county board of education is planning to consolidate as many of 
the one teachers schools as the condition of roads and the density 
of population will justify. We are planning, also to establish cen¬ 
tralized high schools at Jonesville, Bald Rock, Cross Keys, West 
Springs, and possibly Santuc.” This is a great aim toward better 
rural education and our hope is, that such plans will come in the 
near future to a full, realization. 

V . > ' Illiteracy 

t Every State in the American Union, with the exception of Louis¬ 
iana, canvboast of.a fewer number of illiterates—persons who can¬ 
not write their own names—than can South Carolina. United 
States Census figures for 1920 show that 18.1 per cent of the people 
in South Carolina are illiterates, or about one person in every six. 
j.jThe question of illiteracy has been discussed at length in a 
previous chapter, and it was found that in 1920 there were 21,877 
persons in Union County over ten years of age, and of this num- 


Union County : Economic and Social 


101 


ber 3,782, or 17.3 per cent, were illiterate. Of the 3,782 illiterates, 
970 or 8.2 per cent were native whites, and 2,807 or 28.2 per cent 
were negroes. There has been considerable improvement since' 
1910, the figure for that year being 26.6 per cent. Regardless 
of the improvement which has been made, illiteracy in Union 
County is a real problem and one that the county must solve to 
a great extent by itself. 

The final remedy for illiteracy is education, but most of the 
illiterates of Union County are over school age, therefore facilities 
must be provided for them to attend school and still carry on 
their work. Illiteracy cannot be blotted out all in one year’s time 
but will require many years of constructive work carried on by 
the educated people. It is simply up to the parents of our county 
to see that the children of school age attend school, through per¬ 
suasion, legislation or any other way that is feasible. The pas¬ 
sage of the Compulsory Education Law was a great constructive 
step toward the eradication of illiteracy in South Carolina, and its 
enforcement is the only effective antidote for illiteracy. 

The mills of Union County have been doing a great work in the 
organization of night schools in mill villages, the supreme purpose 
of these being to teach adult illiterates to read and write. By this 
means scores of illiterate people are given a chance to better equip 
themselves for their struggle through life. Even though Union 
County has made some strides toward the eradication of illiteracy, 
the work has not been sufficiently organized to stimulate the wide¬ 
spread interest and enthusiasm necessary to a successful eradica¬ 
tion of this retarding factor in our progress. The task rests upon 
the educated people of our county. We cannot afford to turn a 
cold shoulder to anything that looks towards the eradication of 
illiteracy in our county. 

County Fair Association 

The Union County Fair Association at one time in the history 
of our county played a great part in the work of bringing together 
the people of the county to spend pleasantly and profitably a few 
days of relaxation after the strenuous harvest season. However, 
the Fair Association within the last few years has not met the 
great opportunity offered it to perform a real service to the county. 
It is to be hoped that the Union County Fair Association can 
again revive its interest in such a way that it may meet the grow¬ 
ing demands for a yearly fair in Union County. 

The fair affords an opportunity for the people of different sec¬ 
tions to meet and while enjoying the amusement and social fea- 


102 


Union County : Economic and Social 


tures, to see what others are doing along agricultural and indus¬ 
trial lines and to receive profitable suggestions thereby. Besides 
the material benefits that the fair furnishes by promoting friendly 
rivalry among the farmers and by providing a place for dissemi¬ 
nating ideas, it is a splendid means of promoting the spirit of fel¬ 
lowship among the people of the county. A common ground is 
afforded on which all classes may meet and exchange ideas and 
come to a better understanding of each other. 

Cooperative Marketing 

Cooperative marketing associations are organizations among 
farmers whose primary aim is savings and not profits. The real 
aim and purpose of cooperative marketing associations is to elim¬ 
inate wastes, introduce improvements, and hence realize savings 
in the various processes of marketing, buying, insurance and credit. 
There are in these United States today 14,000 organizations of 
farmers for the purpose of buying and selling. 

In an address recently delivered in Danville, Virginia, Aarons 
Sapiro of California, said, “I want to tell you, friends, there is only 
one reason. Our growers in California have learned that the way 
to succeed is to start in and help themselves. Nobody will do it 
for you. As long as you stay unorganized they will simply do it 
to you, but when once you are organized you do it for yourself.” 
Cooperative marketing associations have been successful in Cali¬ 
fornia. Why not adopt this plan as a remedy for our marketing 
inefficiency in South Carolina? , 

The South Carolina Cotton Growers’ Cooperative Marketing 
Association, after a year of operation, has demonstrated the suc¬ 
cess of the cooperative plan of marketing cotton. A branch of it 
operates in Union County. Every cotton grower should support 
it by marketing his cotton through it. The larger the percentage 
of the total cotton crop which the association, along with similar 
branches in the other Southern States, markets, the more com¬ 
plete is going to be the determination of the member farmer 
through that association—his own organization—that a fair price 
shall be paid for his cotton, and that, as a consequence, he makes 
a reasonable profit on it. 


Tax Reform 

From facts and figures derived from the report of the State Tax 
Commission, and considering the conclusion drawn in our study 
to be correct, we find that the administration of the general prop- 


Union County : Economic and Social 


103 


erty tax in the state of South Carolina has proved a failure, there¬ 
fore necessitating immediate changes in the tax system of the 
State. Although the tax reform question is not one to cause alarm 
in Union County, still it is a question that calls for sound thought 
and action. In 1920, the general levy was 28 mills, while the aver¬ 
age for the State was 29.25 mills. It was said in the chapter on 
“Wealth and Taxation,” that the tax problem is a State problem 
and must be dealt with as such. This does not mean, however, 
that the people of Union County must not aid in remedying this 
situation. The cry comes today for lower taxes, but the real solu¬ 
tion is not lower taxes, but a more equitable and scientific distri¬ 
bution of the burden of taxation. The State Legislature has made 
steps toward distributing the burden more equitably by the 
passage of the income, the inheritance, the gasoline, the corpor¬ 
ations’ license tax, and the sales and luxury tax. The contribution 
the people of Union County can make is through the representa¬ 
tives it elects to the General Assembly. Fortunately, Union 
County’s delegation is an intelligent, progressive one, and is to 
be found, on the whole, in the foreground of every contest for the 
good of Union County and the state of South Carolina. The tax 
problem is one which actively engaged the attention of all of them 
at the last session of the legislature. 

Farm Tenancy 

The problem of farm tenancy is one of our outstanding farm 
problems. Seventy-five per cent of our farms are operated by peo¬ 
ple other than the owners. It has been shown by figures that 
illiteracy, lack of efficient farming methods, and unimproved farm 
lands go hand in hand with farm tenancy. As a stepping stone 
to farm ownership, tenancy cannot be looked upon as an evil ten¬ 
dency, but when a tenant uses rented lands simply to earn a liveli¬ 
hood year after year, entertaining no hope of better things, then 
farm tenancy can be termed an evil. 

The remedy we offer to this situation is education. Strict en¬ 
forcement of the compulsory school attendance law and the fos¬ 
tering and maintaining of a good public school system would to 
a great extent eradicate many of the evil tendencies in our rural 
districts. Much can be said of the inefficient school systems in 
the rural communities, and not until recent years has it been 
realized that the country boy’s education is just as essential as 
that of the city lad. 

When our people become educated along the lines of economy, 
thrift and frugality, the advantages of farm- ownership will be 


104 


Union County : Economic and Social 


greatly realized by our rural population. The encouragement of 
farm ownership, wherever possible, for whites who are now tenant 
farmers is a great step toward the solution of this problem. The 
Federal Land Bank stands ready to help such tenant farmers to 
finance their way towards ownership of their farm and farm home. 

Food and Feed Deficit 

Our principal crop is cotton. Our great grandparents planted 
cotton and this custom has been handed down, from generation 
to generation until the mind of the farmer today runs only in the 
cotton channel. Our farms should be self-sufficing, and until they 
are, our farm system will continue to be ill-balanced. An ill- 
balanced farm system only keeps the community drained of its 
surplus cash to buy imported food and feed needs. In the year 
1919, our food and feed needs were $5,493,524.58, and the county 
produced $1,570,296 worth. That means that approximately four 
millions of dollars left the county to pay for products that could 
be raised in the county, much cheaper than growing cotton to pay 
for them, particularly under boll weevil conditions. 

There are three reasons why Union County fails to produce its 
food and feed needs. Excessive farm tenancy; lack of attention 
to food and feed crops; and the necessity for a ready cash mar¬ 
ket. When these problems are solved, our farmers will be living 
on self-sufficing farms, under more prosperous conditions and en¬ 
joying the pleasure of a happy and prosperous rural population. 

If Union County will produce enough food and feed supplies 
on her own farms to feed her own people, she will add approx¬ 
imately four million dollars annually to her wealth. In a few 
years, such a policy will add tremendously to the wealth of the 
average citizen of the county, rural and urban alike. 

i Poor Roads 

Prior to 1920, the roads in Union County were of the poorest 
type and almost impassable in bad weather. Means of transpor¬ 
tation and haulage were greatly handicapped. The only means 
of road repairing and maintenance was the county chain-gang. 
This was very inefficient as only repair work could be done in 
jummer and the winter months were spent in hibernating quar¬ 
ters or on jobs at intervals of good weather or on bridge work. 

The roads were poorly located, in regard to grade and curvature,' 
and top soil was out of the question. In winter they were' merely 
“mud puddles,” and in summer the holes made travel very un- 


Union County : Economic and Social 


105 


pleasant, besides the damage done to the transportation vehicles. 

A road building program was started in 1920, which is discussed 
in a preceding chapter, and today Union County has a fair system 
of good roads, which makes it possible to go from one part of the 
county to another in a relatively short period of time and the cost 
of transportation and haulage has been reduced not less than fifty 
per cent. 

When Union County completes the building program already 
started, and with an efficient system of maintenance, our roads 
should be second to few in the State. Money spent in good roads 
is well spent, and it pays to maintain them after they are built. 
Along with good roads goes a better school development through 
a program of consolidation of schools, and a more satisfying coun¬ 
try life. 

Idle Lands 

From 1910 to 1920 there was a decrease in the number of farms 
in Union County Judging from this fact it is readily seen that 
the size of the farms today has increased. The fact that 55.3 per 
cent of our farm lands are unimproved in Union County partly 
explains the disadvantages of large farms. 

At the present time, there are approximately 90,000 acres of 
lands in Union County that are not in use. We do nor argue for 
a sudden change of these lands from an idle state to a state of 
cultivation, but these idle lands give evidence to the fact that agri¬ 
culture in Union County could be carried on more “fextensively^ 
We could support to advantage a great many more white owner- 
operator farmers. It would be to the advantage of good thrifty 
white settlers from the Middle West and North to buy the reason¬ 
ably priced farm lands and settle down among us. There is 
enough available land, too, for every thrifty, intelligent white 
tenant farmer to become a land-owner. 

Soil Fertility 

There was a time in the history of this country when nothing 
was quite so cheap as land. The old southern planter would clear 
up “new grounds,” cheat them of their natural fertility, and move 
on to the other fresh areas. That day is largely past, and the 
present generation must pay for the sins of its fathers, unto the 
third and fourth generations. 

No type of soil is more susceptible of permanent improvement 
than the predominant Cecil series of Union County. These soils 
are potentially rich in potash, but severely lacking in nitrogen 


106 


Union County: Economic and Social 


and phosphoric acid. Rotation of crops, with liberal attention to 
leguminous plants, will supply from the air the nitrogen needed. 
This is the most expensive, too, of all the fertilizing ingredients. 
Judicious applications of phosphoric acid and lime will be found 
to pay, and both of these are among the cheapest of fertilizers. 
A more extensive'development of the livestock phases of farming 
is highly important for soil improvement. The rehabilitation of 
worn out lands is one of the big problems of Union County. 

Boll Weevil Control 

An all cotton farm is a proposition of doubtful profitableness 
under normal conditions. Varying weather, our unstable market 
with fluctuations in prices, and other shifting factors make the 
undertaking fraught with financial dangers from the outset. 
When we add the long heralded boll weevil to this list of menaces 
confronting our cotton farmers, the situation becomes acute. The 
time has not come for our farmers to abandon cotton growing 
entirely. Lack of experience in raising other crops will result 
in failure if they are attempted on too large a scale. They should 
be tried on a small scale at first and those that are found to pay 
should be adopted. But cotton will continue to a certain extent 
to be our main money crop. Other communities that have suf¬ 
fered more than ours have, after the first year or two, continued 
to grow cotton profitably. It is certain though that it will re¬ 
quire more^scientific methods of farming than have been practiced 
heretofore. Those who fail to practice them will be driven from 
the business. 

A special committee on boll weevil control at the gathering of 
Southern agricultural workers in session at Memphis, Tennessee, 
February 6-8, 1923, gave in their report the following recommend¬ 
ations: 

1. “Even under the most intelligent farming, boll weevil in¬ 
festation increases the risk in cotton production. Therefore, of 
first importance is a live-at-home program with something to sell 
besides cotton. This fundamental fact cannot be too strongly 
emphasized. 

2. “Even though an ample supply of calcium arsenate were 
available at a reasonable cost, probably not 10 per cent of the cot¬ 
ton acreage of all the South would be poisoned by all known 
methods of application. Therefore, those proven cultural methods 
which tend to insure greater production and indirect aid in con¬ 
trolling the weevil damage can not be too strongly stressed. 
These include: 


Union County : Economic and Social 


107 


(a) The use of well drained, fertile soil. 

(b) Good seed of standard early maturing varieties. 

(c) The use of ample seed in order to insure a good stand. 

(d) Closer spacing than under non-boll weevil conditions. 

(e) Intensive careful cultivation. 

(f) ' Liberal fertilization to induce quick growth, and stimulate 
early maturity. 

(g) Where practicable the early destruction of cotton stalks 
in the fall and of hibernating places in the field. 

In addition to the above, where poisoning is not contemplated, 
and inexpensive labor is available, the picking up and destruction 
of all punctured or infested squares for a period of 30 days will 
prove beneficial. 

3. *‘Of the various methods of control involving the use of poi¬ 
son, the committee recommended the calcium arsenate method 
and Florida method. There are no other methods having as yet 
the sanction of adequate scientific proof. The limitations of the 
calcium arsenate dusting method lies in the fact that it has been! 
found profitable only on lands capable of producing one-third to 
one-half bale per acre or more, that it requires a maximum of cal¬ 
cium arsenate, and that it must be applied at night and by use of 
machinery. Aside from these limitations, its worth, through sev¬ 
eral years and under varying conditions, has been fully and con¬ 
clusively demonstrated not only by the Experiment Stations but 
by practical farmers throughout the cotton belt. 

4. “The committee was without scientific proof that would en¬ 
able it to give a definite opinion as to the effectiveness of the mo¬ 
lasses arsenate treatment. However, prominent and progressive 
farmers in South Carolina and other states claim for it a very de¬ 
cisive measure of control and experiments at the government lab¬ 
oratory at Tallulah indicate a certain measure of control in the 
early stages of the infestation when the cotton plants are small. 

5. “The solution of any great scientific problem such as boll 
weevil control is likely to be the work of many scientists, extend¬ 
ing over a period of years and at an expenditure of considerable 
money. Prompt and adequate support of Experiment Station 
projects along this line by the legislature is an essential element 
in the early solution of this, the greatest problem ol tne cotton, 
growers of the South. In times of emergency, such as the present, 
numerous panaceas will be proposed. It is safe to say that most 
of these will prove worthless to the farmer, however profitable 
to their promoters. Care and economy should be exercised in 
their purchase and use. 

“As the responsible agencies for scientific research in the states, 


108 


Union County : Economic and Social 


the agricultural colleges can recommend to the people only such 
methods as have been fully established by adequate and depend¬ 
able data. Until such proof shall be available new or untried 
methods and devices should be used with caution and with a view 
of testing their efficiency rather than depending upon them for 
successful control.” 


Livestock 

Another great problem for the Union County farmer to solve is 
the problem of more livestock, thereby eliminating to d) great ex¬ 
tent the deficit in food and feed production and increasing the 
fertility of his soil. In 1920, there were 251,453 acres of land in 
farms in Union County, and in order for this land area to be 
lightly stocked there should have been one animal unit to every 
five acres, or 50,291 in the county. An animal unit is one horse, 
one cow, two colts, five hogs, seven sheep or one hundred hens. 
In a preceding chapter a table is given analyzing these for Union 
County. However, there were only 12,669 animal units at that 
time, making a shortage of 36,623 animal units. During the past 
decade, there has been a small increase in the number of cattle, 
swine and poultry but this increase has not been sufficient to meet 
the demands of the county. 

What then is the solution of this problem? First of all the 
farms in Union County must be self-feeding, at least so far as the 
staple food and feed crops are concerned. They must begin now 
to establish a safely balanced, prosperous agriculture in Union 
County. The philosophy Henry Grady uttered years ago is a 
sound policy to be followed in Union today. He said: “When 
every farmer in the South shall eat bread from his own fields and 
meat from his own pastures, and disturbed by no conditions and 
enslaved by no debt, shall, amid his teeming orchards and vine¬ 
yards, dairies and barns, pitch his own crops in his own wisdom 
and grow them in independence, making cotton and tobacco a clean 
surplus and selling these in his own time and in his own chosen 
market and not at a master’s bidding, getting pay in cash and not 
in a receipted mortgage that discharges his debt but does not 
restore his freedom, then and not until then, shall be breaking 
the fullness of a new day.” 




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